The Punjab Revenue Authority has issued new guidelines for customers visiting restaurants, hotels, coffee shops and food chains across the province.
The measures aim to improve tax transparency and ensure customers receive proper digital receipts after making payments. Food businesses must also display the new instructions prominently at their premises.
The PRA has already prohibited restaurants and hotels from giving customers kitchen orders, unpaid bills, pre-bills or temporary bills as final receipts.
Customers told to demand digital receipts
The authority has urged diners to obtain a digital receipt every time they pay for restaurant, hotel or other food services.
Customers should receive the receipt only after making payment. They should then check the business name, address and Punjab Taxpayer Registration Number, or PNTN.
The receipt must clearly show order details and the applicable sales tax rate. It should also list the amount before tax and the final amount charged.
Most importantly, every valid digital receipt must carry a PRA invoice number and a PRA QR code.
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Customers can scan the QR code to verify transaction details and check whether the restaurant has properly recorded the sale with the authority.
Punjab has used electronic monitoring of restaurant invoices for years. The Punjab Information Technology Board developed the Restaurant Invoice Monitoring System for the PRA.
Authorities first rolled out the system in Lahore and Faisalabad divisions in September 2015. It helps monitor registered food businesses and provincial sales tax collection.
PRA asks diners to report payment refusals
The PRA has also advised customers to report restaurants that refuse to accept card or other digital payments.
People can lodge complaints through PRA social media accounts, the PRA Sahulat application or WhatsApp at 0343-0000772.
The authority said digital receipts play an important role in protecting taxes collected from customers and improving transparency.
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Punjab has also maintained a tax incentive for electronic restaurant payments.
Since July 1, 2026, customers paying through debit cards, credit cards, mobile wallets or QR codes pay 8% sales tax. Cash and other non-digital payments remain subject to a 16% rate.
The previous digital payment rate stood at 5%, but the Punjab Finance Act 2026 increased it to 8%. Despite the increase, digital transactions still attract half the rate charged on cash payments.
What diners should check before leaving
The latest instructions place more responsibility on customers to check their receipts before leaving a restaurant.
A printed slip without the required PRA details may not meet the authority’s digital invoicing requirements. Customers should specifically look for the invoice number, QR code, tax amount and business information.
The PRA says the system helps ensure that taxes paid by diners reach the provincial exchequer instead of remaining undocumented.
For restaurants and food chains, the guidelines also increase pressure to record transactions through approved systems rather than informal billing methods.
