The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has extended the deadline for installing video surveillance systems from 15 October to 31 October 2026 under Sales Tax General Order (STGO) No. 27 of 2026, according to a letter dated 21 October 2026. The extension applies to the electronic monitoring of production in five sectors: packaged tea, household electronics, paper and paperboard, edible oil and ghee, and leather. The letter, signed by Second Secretary (ST-L&P) Khalid Mehmood, was addressed to the Chief Commissioners Inland Revenue of the Large Taxpayers Offices, Corporate Tax Offices, and Regional Tax Offices, and it states that the remaining terms and conditions of the STGO stay the same.
STGO 27 of 2026 was issued on 7 October 2026, when the FBR also authorised four vendors to install and operate electronic production monitoring equipment at manufacturing facilities in the same five sectors. The authorisation covers Internet Protocol (IP) cameras and Network Video Recorders (NVRs) with storage capacity for at least two months of recordings. The cameras are meant to monitor production processes continuously and in real time, while the FBR gets access to live feeds and recorded footage according to prescribed requirements, as reported by TechJuice. The new letter was also copied to the authorised vendors listed in the STGO, as well as to senior FBR officials, including the Director General for Information Technology and Digital Transformation, and the Chief of the Transformation Delivery Unit.
The FBR has said the monitoring framework is intended to improve transparency in industrial production and to help prevent the concealment of actual production and sales, which should support sales tax collection, according to ARY News. The board has been extending this kind of surveillance sector by sector. Tile manufacturers were required to install video analytics systems by 30 April 2026 under STGO 02 of 2026, and the same approach has been applied to sugar mills, textiles, tobacco, and other industries. For manufacturers in the five sectors covered by STGO 27, the extension gives units that have not completed installation roughly two more weeks, though the letter does not explain the reason for the extension or say how many units have already complied.
The FBR has shown that it is willing to enforce compliance with its digital monitoring requirements. In July 2026, Business Recorder reported, citing industry sources, that the FBR had blocked more than Rs6 billion in refunds claimed by taxpayers who failed to comply with digital monitoring requirements, including production surveillance at business premises. Units that continue to resist installation of production monitoring systems may also face penalties, blacklisting, suspension of sales tax registration, and restrictions on removing goods from production premises, according to the same report, under the expanded powers given by the Finance Act 2026. With the new date set for 31 October, manufacturers in the five sectors have a short window to complete installation through authorised vendors before the revised deadline takes effect.
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