The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has given steel manufacturers until December 30, 2026, to install and activate a digital monitoring system to track production and dispatches at every factory and active production line.
The deadline was announced in Sales Tax General Order No. 29 of 2026, issued on Wednesday. The order applies to registered steel melters, re-rollers and composite manufacturing units across Pakistan.
The system will allow FBR to monitor steel production, record dispatches and identify differences between estimated production and the actual weight of goods leaving factories.
Under the new rules, the system will track production at different stages, including the counting of billets and ingots, verification of product sizes, classification of finished steel products and weighing of outgoing shipments.
It will record details such as production dates, times, product dimensions, estimated weights, vehicle registration numbers and the gross, tare and net weights of dispatched goods. The data will be transmitted electronically to the FBR’s Central Control Unit for monitoring and reconciliation.
Steel manufacturers will have to install industrial cameras, sensors, video analytics equipment, integrated weighbridges and other required hardware and software. The system must also support automated counting, alerts and controls to detect tampering.
FBR has named ISSM Labelling Solutions and Obsidian as authorised vendors for the iron and steel sector. Manufacturers must arrange installation and maintenance through vendors approved under the relevant sales tax rules.
The order makes digital monitoring mandatory for the removal and supply of covered goods. Manual records, privately installed cameras and standalone weighbridge entries will not be accepted as substitutes for the approved system.
Manufacturers must report system failures, equipment damage, tampering or an inactive production line to the FBR, its Central Control Unit and the relevant Commissioner Inland Revenue within one hour.
They must also provide 30 days’ advance notice of changes to products, production lines, weighbridges or dispatch processes that could affect the monitoring system.
FBR has directed its field formations to identify operational steel units, coordinate site surveys, supervise installation and testing, and investigate unexplained differences in production and dispatch data.
The monitoring information may also be compared with tax returns, invoices, stock records, electricity consumption and weighbridge data.
Failure to install or operate the system, bypassing monitoring controls, concealing production lines or dispatch points, and removing goods without the required monitoring may invite action under the Sales Tax Act, 1990, and relevant rules.
The order has taken immediate effect.
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