Punjab Hits Rs65B Tax Mark with e-Pay

Lahore, September 3, 2025, 08:18 PM PKT — The Punjab government has shattered records, amassing over Rs65 billion in tax revenue via its flagship e-Pay Punjab online platform in the first two months of FY2025-26, a milestone unveiled during a progress review meeting chaired by Faisal Yousaf, Chairman of the Punjab Information Technology Board (PITB), per official reports. The platform logged over 6 million transactions, with 70,000 new app downloads, reflecting a rising shift to online payments. Key revenue sources included Rs40.6 billion from Sales Tax on Services, Rs4.8 billion from Token Tax, Rs1.65 billion from Traffic Challans, and Rs804 million from Property Tax, covering 88 taxes across 18 departments, including the Punjab Land Records Authority.

Yousaf underscored ongoing service expansions to boost efficiency, transparency, and accessibility, with e-Pay Punjab, developed by PITB, Punjab Finance Department, and 1Link, enabling payments via ATM, internet banking, mobile banking, over-the-counter at 1Link banks, Telco agents, and mobile wallets. Web context on digital governance shows past teething issues, while posts found on X reflect pride mixed with scrutiny—some cheer progress, others question reach. Critically, the narrative of “digital revenue success” may mask implementation gaps—web data hints at infrastructure limits, and X sentiment suggests distrust in universal adoption, pointing to potential challenges.