The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has authorized four companies to install and operate electronic monitoring systems at manufacturing facilities across five sectors as part of its efforts to monitor production.
The sectors covered are packaged tea, household electronics, paper and paperboard, edible oil and ghee, and leather.
In a notification issued Wednesday, FBR authorized Obsidian Technologies, Tollink Pakistan (Pvt.) Ltd., ISSM Labelling Solutions (Private) Limited, and Authentik to supply, install, operate, maintain and repair production monitoring equipment under Chapter XIV-BA of the Sales Tax Rules, 2006.
The system will include Internet Protocol (IP) cameras and Network Video Recorders (NVRs) capable of storing at least two months of recordings.
The cameras will continuously capture manufacturing processes in real time, while NVRs will record the feeds and retain the footage for a minimum of two months.
The authorized companies will have to ensure that all equipment meets technical specifications approved by the FBR. Installation in each sector will begin after the relevant Sales Tax General Order is issued.
The vendors will also be responsible for testing equipment at individual sites and confirming that installations comply with FBR requirements. They must provide the Board with access to live camera feeds and recorded footage according to prescribed procedures.
The authorization will remain valid for three years from the date of issuance unless it is suspended or canceled earlier. It supplements the companies’ existing authorizations, which will continue under their existing terms.
The authorization cannot be transferred or subcontracted without prior written approval from the Approval Committee.
The FBR will own all footage and recordings collected through the system. The recordings will be treated as confidential and cannot be shared with any party except on the Board’s instructions.
The notification also prohibits the vendors from supplying or charging for equipment or software other than the specified IP cameras and NVRs under the authorization.
