FBR binds 30 manufacturing sectors to install monitoring equipment

ISLAMABAD: In a bid to curb the ongoing rampant tax evasion, the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has made binding on over 30 major manufacturing sectors to install electronic monitoring equipment at their premises to monitor real-time production. The FBR has issued Statutory Regulatory Order (SRO) 889 (I) 2010 to amend the Sales Tax Rules, 2006, here on Monday.

The manufacturers of over 30 major sectors are required to install "intelligent video analytics" at their premises for electronic monitoring of production on real-time basis. The following manufacturing sectors are included such as fruit juices, vegetable juices; ice cream; aerated waters or beverages; syrups and squashes; cigarettes; toilet soap; detergents; shampoo; toothpaste; shaving cream; perfumery and cosmetics; tea; powder drinks; milky drinks; toilet paper and tissue paper; spices sold in retail packing bearing brand names and trade marks; shoe polish and shoe cream; fertilizers; cement sold in retail packing; mineral/bottled water; household electrical goods, including air conditioners, refrigerators, deep freezers, televisions, recorders and players, electric bulbs, tube-lights, electric fans, electric irons, washing machines and telephone sets; household gas appliances, including cooking range, ovens, geysers and gas heaters; foam or spring mattresses and other foam products for household use; paints, distempers, enamels, pigments, colors, varnishes, gums, resins, dyes, glazes, thinners, blacks, cellulose lacquers and polishes sold in retail packing; lubricating oils, brake fluids, transmission fluid, and other vehicular fluids sold in retail packing; storage batteries excluding those sold to automotive manufacturers or assemblers; tyres and tubes excluding those sold to automotive manufacturers or assemblers; motorcycles; auto rickshaws; biscuits in retail packing with brand name; tiles; auto-parts, in retail packing, excluding those sold to automotive manufacturers or assemblers.

According to the rules issued by the FBR, the provisions of these new rules shall apply to video surveillance for electronic monitoring of production on real-time basis. The production of specified goods, manufactured in Pakistan, shall be monitored through intelligent video surveillance, and video analytics by installation of equipment including video cameras, sensors, etc, at production lines, as are approved by the Board for real-time collection of data that shows production through object detection and object counting; transmission of data to central control room at the FBR on real-time basis, storage and archiving of data; detection of unexpected stops; quantitative analyses of productions and data analytics for required legal actions.

No person engaged in manufacturing of specified goods shall remove the production from its business premises unless it has undergone the process of intelligent video surveillance. The manufacturers of specified goods shall buy video monitoring equipments only from the authorized vendor.

No manufacturer of the specified goods shall buy video monitoring equipment, which is not authorized or approved by the board. The FBR will setup approval committee, which shall function in accordance with the provisions of these rules. The Project Director shall be the convener of the approval committee and its headquarters shall be located at the FBR House, Islamabad. The Board shall provide secretarial and other allied support required for functioning of the approval committee.

The approval committee shall devise procedures for its functioning, which shall be in accordance with these rules. The vendor shall be required to have and demonstrate ability to provide equipment with high security and efficiency for electronic monitoring of production and video analytics on real-time basis.

The equipment offered by the vendor must have the following features including the equipment shall have high definition video camera and sensor that can record and count the production; the equipment shall have ability to weigh the product contained in bags; the equipment shall have ability to integrate with the software recommended by FBR which will be used for transmission of data to central control room; the equipment will conduct video analytics and communicate results thereof to central control room(CCR); the equipment will report any unauthorized stoppages of production through generation of appropriate alarm; the system should have sixty days remotely retrievable local, on-site, and at place, specified by the Board, off-site, data storage at each site; the CCR should have a central data storage capacity capable of storing and retrieving data on long term basis up to five years and the equipment must be stable, fault-tolerant, secure and accessible only by username and password as authorized by the Board.