The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) collected Rs595.57 million in Re1 Point-of-Sale (PoS) service fee on each sale invoice collected by hundreds of thousands of tier-1 retailers during the last fiscal year, the finance ministry said on Monday.

In a report presented in the National Assembly, the ministry said that the total collection in PoS fees reached Rs664.43 million from July 1, 2022, to June 30, 2023.

Moreover, Rs240.13 million was collected in PoS fees in the period from September 30, 2021, to June 30, 2022.

The funds raised through “these fees are utilised for the welfare of Inland Revenue Service employees,” the ministry said and added that a portion of such amount was allocated for reward schemes and media campaigns.

About four years ago, the FBR imposed a fee on Point of Sale transactions, which has gone largely unnoticed by customers. Introduced in August 2021, the FBR announced that the funds raised would support documentation efforts, including rewarding customers through lucky draws.

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Initially, some customers did receive cash prizes, but the prize scheme was abruptly suspended without explanation. Despite this, the fee collection remains in effect, and there are concerns that the funds are being utilised by FBR officers without any proper audit or accountability measures in place.