FBR authorises four vendors to monitor production in five industrial sectors

The Federal Board of Revenue has given four vendors permission to install and run electronic production monitoring systems across five manufacturing areas. Profit by Pakistan Today reported that these areas are packaged tea, household electronics, paperboard, ghee and cooking oil, and leather. They rest on the Sales Tax Rules, 2006, specifically Chapter XIV-BA, and name Obsidian Technologies, Tollink Pakistan, ISSM Labelling Solutions and Authentik as the approved firms.

Vendors will install and service IP cameras and Network Video Recorders on factory lines, and footage must be kept for at least two months under continuous monitoring. Authorisations last three years unless suspended or cancelled sooner, and work in a sector cannot start until the FBR issues its Sales Tax General Order. Vendors may supply only these devices, must give the FBR live and recorded access after testing, and cannot share footage without Board instructions. The recordings remain the property of the FBR and must be kept confidential.

The four firms already hold monitoring approvals in other sectors, and the new ones extend those rather than replacing them. Obsidian covers textile spinning, Tollink aerated beverages and bottled water, ISSM textile spinning, tiles, packed milk, packed juices and bottled water, and Authentik aerated beverages, packed milk, packed juices and bottled water. Transfers or subcontracting require prior written consent from the Approval Committee, which can suspend or cancel any authorisation after the vendor has been heard.