PM Orders Roadmap for 100pc Digital Payments in Pakistan

Photo: Dawn / PMO

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has ordered a clear roadmap with time-bound targets to take Pakistan to 100 per cent digital payments, telling officials to fix the problems users face and to get the internet to every part of the country. Cheque payments through the Asaan Assignment Account stop on Nov 15 and move to the Raast system, BISP payments are already fully digital, and most government institutions are to be digitised by December 2026.

The prime minister chaired a high-level meeting in Islamabad on Friday on the push for a cashless economy, the Prime Minister's Office said in a statement. He told officials to present a clear roadmap and time-bound targets for a 100pc digital payments system, and he was blunt about the everyday problems people run into.

"The issues faced by users in the digital payments system should be resolved immediately," PM Shehbaz said, according to the statement.

He added that to promote a cashless economy, internet across the country and easy access to technology for the public must be ensured. "Promoting a cashless economy is one of the government's top priorities, with its positive results already beginning to emerge," he said, and praised the Ministry of Finance and state institutions for their work so far.

One part of the plan is already in front of shoppers. The prime minister said payments through Raast QR codes are proving instrumental in the cashless push, and he directed that the scheme for digital payments between consumers and merchants through Raast QR codes continue under government patronage. He also ordered a media campaign to get electricity and gas consumers to pay through the QR codes printed on their utility bills, and told all ministries and government institutions to fully implement the cashless economy plan.

The briefing at the meeting set out where things stand. Work on digitising payments in all federal and provincial government institutions is moving fast, and payments in most institutions will be fully digitised by December 2026. All payments under the Benazir Income Support Programme are already being made through digital wallets, and work is underway on a modern system for digital payments in areas without internet access.

One date matters most for government offices. Cheque-based payments through the Asaan Assignment Account will be discontinued from Nov 15, and will instead be made through the Raast digital system across the country. Drawing and disbursing officers have already been trained for the switch, the PMO said.

What this means for you is simple. If you pay an electricity or gas bill, look for the QR code printed on it and pay from your phone instead of standing in a queue. If you receive BISP money, it already reaches you through a digital wallet. And if you deal with a government office, the paper cheque is on its way out.

The change is part of a wider push the government says is about bringing transparency to the economy, through tax reform, a more efficient Federal Board of Revenue and digital transactions. The prime minister formed a high-level committee on the cashless economy in June last year, and this July he directed that remittances from abroad be fully digitised too. For context on the economy the plan sits in, the World Bank says Pakistan's external debt has nearly doubled to $135bn in a decade, while the stock market has been running hot, with the PSX KSE-100 passing 175,000 this week, and petrol fell by Rs9.41 a litre from today.

The timeline so far:

• June 2025: PM forms a high-level committee on the cashless economy.
• July 2026: PM directs remittances from abroad to be fully digitised.
• Nov 15, 2026: cheque payments through Asaan Assignment Account end and move to Raast.
• December 2026: payments in most government institutions to be fully digitised.

Sources

• Dawn: PM seeks roadmap for 100pc digital payments system, stresses countrywide internet access
• UrduPoint: PM Sets Roadmap For 100pc Digital Payments System, Orders Shift From Cheques To Raast

The roadmap is due in the coming days, and the first test will be whether the Nov 15 switch from cheques to Raast goes through without a hitch.

#Pakistan #PakistanNews #DigitalPayments #CashlessPakistan #Raast #ShehbazSharif #Economy #Tech