POS systems disrupt retail operations

The Chainstore Association of Pakistan (CAP), on Saturday, raised serious concerns over ongoing technical and enforcement challenges faced by tier-1 retailers integrated with the Federal Board of Revenue's (FBR) Point of Sale (POS) system.

CAP Chairman Asfandyar Farrukh urged FBR Chairman Rashid Mehmood Langrial to intervene immediately, as persistent system failures and enforcement actions are disrupting retail operations and creating significant commercial risks. Despite full compliance, integrated retailers face frequent technical issues, including forced disconnections due to profile expiry, invoices failing to sync with the FBR portal, unexplained version changes, and poor communication of system updates. Additionally, manual invoice reconciliation, the lack of bulk download options, and outdated technical documentation (unchanged since 2019) further burden retailers.

Retailers also report excessive enforcement actions, including sudden sealing of their businesses due to unverifiable invoices, often resulting from system failures rather than negligence. Frequent demands for additional tax deposits before sales tax return filings, despite valid input tax adjustments, are adding to retailer frustration.

"Such demands must be rationalised to prevent undue pressure on the compliant businesses. These actions not only damage retailer confidence but also discourage further adoption of the POS integration system," CAP said. The situation has worsened with the introduction of SRO 69(I)/2025, imposing impractical compliance requirements amid system inefficiencies. Patron-in-Chief Rana Tariq Mehboob called for revising the Sales Tax Rules 2006 in consultation with the organised retail sector and requested a meeting with FBR leadership to resolve these critical challenges.