A weekly ‘cashless’ bazaar is launched in Islamabad to promote digital payments and prevent tax cheating.

According to the market manager, a weekly “cashless” market has been launched in Pakistan for the first time with the goals of encouraging small companies to embrace cashless transactions, promoting digital payments, and preventing tax cheating.

As part of the digitisation drive, the Pakistan Airports Authority (PAA) implemented a cashless model at airports in October, and the government activated digital wallets for welfare payments this month.

It was opened in accordance with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s Digital Pakistan Vision, which aims to make the nation a digitally empowered society, according to Raja Asad, the weekly market manager for Islamabad.

“This place has about 2,743 stalls,” he stated. “This is the first cashless market in Pakistan, and 99 percent of them are completely cashless.”

With more than 240 million people, Pakistan has one of South Asia’s lowest tax-to-GDP ratios. For the fiscal year 2025–2026, the government of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has set a record collection target of Rs14.13 trillion ($47.4 billion), which is 9% more than the previous year.

The goal is a component of the $7 billion IMF bailout program’s structural reform targets, which include raising the tax-to-GDP ratio.

The cashless market technique, according to vendor Muhammad Khalid, is “very good” and convenient for both sellers and the general public.

He remarked, “People don’t always have money in their pockets.” “The money is paid electronically. The account receives it. This is advantageous.
Another seller, Muhammad Arshad, praised the idea but expressed doubts about the dependability of the Internet.

“The Internet occasionally stops working because of the amount of rush here. Three or four consumers intended to pay the day before yesterday when the market was open, but they were unable to do so due to the poor Internet, he claimed.

They then made a cash payment. The Internet is having problems. It is without question. It takes time, slows down, and is ineffective.

A consumer at the weekly market named Kiran Fatima claimed that some vendors were purposefully rejecting digital payments because of “scanner issues,” but she was still able to make a purchase using Easypaisa’s e-wallet.

“If the government has installed something, then everyone should use the scanner,” she said, urging authorities to investigate.

“Because we still pay the tax.” Therefore, the fact that we don’t have to pay with cash is equally advantageous.