Pakistan’s e-Commerce Policy 2.0 (2025–30)

e-Commerce Policy 2.0 is Pakistan’s proposed, lifecycle-based blueprint for building a modern digital commerce ecosystem. It replaces the largely high-level 2019 policy with a more operational plan that follows an end-to-end online transaction (onboarding → payments → logistics → consumer protection → cross-border integration).

Vision, mission, objectives, and principles

• Vision: a secure, inclusive, globally competitive e-commerce ecosystem that drives innovation, jobs, and sustainable growth.
• Mission: coordinated institutions, resilient infrastructure, regulatory modernisation, and international alignment.
• Six objectives: expand participation; accelerate digital payments; build efficient & sustainable logistics; enhance consumer protection & trust; enable cross-border trade; and strengthen adaptive, data-driven governance.
• Guiding principles: inclusivity & equity; agility; trust & transparency; sustainability; data-informed policymaking; government as a digital leader; and whole-of-government, multistakeholder delivery.

Why a new policy now

Since 2019, Pakistan has set up the National e-Commerce Council, onboarded >8,000 merchants to formal channels, grown e-commerce transaction value by ~1,400% (FY2019→FY2024), and simplified small-exporter compliance (SBP’s B2B2C). But fragmentation, urban-centric logistics, 60–70% reliance on cash-on-delivery, weak enforceability for consumer redress, and exclusion of underserved groups persisted.

Globally, retail e-commerce nearly doubled since 2019; domestically, Pakistan’s market, broadband use, and fintech rails advanced—but the digital divide, cyber-fraud, urban congestion/emissions from deliveries, and lack of social protections for ~500k gig workers still pose risks.

Policy 2.0 therefore pivots to a tighter, forward-looking, data-driven approach that centers MSMEs, women, youth, freelancers, and informal sellers.

The five pillars — what changes on the ground

1) Digital onboarding & participation (getting sellers/buyers in)

Goal: expand equitable participation across regions and enterprise sizes. Barriers today include multi-agency duplication (SECP/FBR/NADRA/provincial), patchy connectivity, low digital capability, and hard eligibility rules (e.g., under-18).

Critical enablers: better connectivity; one-window onboarding across agencies; practical skills; incentives to formalise; inclusive outreach.

Flagship actions:

• National Connectivity Enablement Programme to extend broadband/mobile internet and shared access points in underserved districts.
• National One-Window Digital Onboarding (integrated with Pakistan Single Window): simultaneous SECP/FBR/NADRA/provincial registration; e-KYC; e-signatures; multilingual flows. Lead: MoITT with PSW.
• E-Commerce Skills Accelerator via DigiSkills/e-Rozgar/TEVTA/NAVTTC; export modules via TDAP/SMEDA.
• Formalisation incentives (time-bound), including preferential tax for traceable digital payments; EDF support for export-oriented sellers.
• Inclusive outreach (women/youth/rural), with guardian-consent pathways for ages 15–18 to register.

Expected outcomes: faster, cheaper onboarding; stronger participation by women/youth/rural MSMEs; better connectivity; improved export readiness.

2) Payments & financial systems (moving away from cash)

Goal: secure, interoperable, inclusive digital payments that reduce cash dependence and build trust. Pakistan has rolled out Raast, licensed EMIs, Asaan Digital Accounts, and digital retail banks—but adoption is uneven, interoperability gaps and fraud concerns persist, and CoD still dominates.

Critical enablers: secure/interoperable rails; inclusion & access to capital; digital financial literacy; cross-border payment enablement.

Flagship actions:

• National payment interoperability & acceptance expansion (interoperable QR, affordable merchant solutions). Lead: SBP.
• Simplified digital onboarding & tiered e-KYC (risk-based, NADRA API, mobile-first).
• Inclusive e-commerce financing enablement (alt-data credit scoring, guarantees, fintech partnerships).
• National digital financial literacy & trust-building (fraud prevention, dispute resolution, safe wallet use).
• Cross-border digital payments facilitation (global gateway connectivity where possible, FX simplification, regional rails). Lead: MoITT & SBP.
• Public-sector payments for inclusion (expand G2P/P2G digital flows; integrate with e-KYC).
• Regulatory sandbox for embedded finance & open finance to safely test BNPL, escrow, platform lending.

Expected outcomes: wider merchant acceptance, more accounts for underserved groups, greater working capital access, higher payment trust, and better cross-border participation.

3) Logistics & fulfilment (reliable, affordable, sustainable delivery)

Goal: integrated, nationwide logistics that lower costs and boost reliability for domestic and cross-border commerce. Today, the rural last-mile is costly; warehousing and addressing are fragmented; reverse logistics are thin; transparency varies; and sustainability and worker protections need attention.

Critical enablers: (i) infrastructure & inclusive access; (ii) national addressing/geo-mapping; (iii) robust reverse logistics; (iv) green logistics & decent work.

Flagship actions:

• Logistics infrastructure expansion beyond major cities (PPP via P3A), shared hubs, and Pakistan Post modernisation. Lead: Ministry of Communications with BoI, Pakistan Post, NLC.
• National addressing & geo-mapping system (unique digital addresses, interoperability with providers). Lead: NADRA with MoITT, Pakistan Post, provinces.
• National reverse logistics framework (service benchmarks, shared return hubs, platform-neutral standards). Lead: CCP with MoC/MoITT/Pakistan Post/private providers.
• Green logistics & decent work programme (EVs, sustainable packaging, route optimisation; safety training, insurance, fair pay for gig/platform workers).

Expected outcomes: wider coverage, cheaper & more reliable delivery, fewer failed shipments via standardised addressing, scalable returns, greener operations, and better worker protection.

4) Consumer protection & trust (safety, fairness, redress)

Goal: strengthen confidence via clear rights, fast redress, data protection, and platform accountability. Gaps today: fragmented mandates, slow/uneven enforcement, limited awareness, counterfeit/misleading content, weak privacy/security, and emerging AI/deception risks.

Critical enablers: modernised legal framework; interoperable grievance system; stronger data protection & cybersecurity; active oversight of digital fraud; standardised platform policies.

Flagship actions:

• National e-commerce consumer protection framework: defines enforceable return/refund and platform/seller liabilities; aligns with PECA and forthcoming data protection law. Lead: CCP (with Law & Justice, Commerce, provincial councils).
• National digital grievance redress system: unified portal, multilingual, SLA-based (e.g., 72-hour initial response), interoperable with regulators/banks/platforms. Lead: MoITT with CCP/FIA/provincial bodies.
• Platform compliance code: mandatory seller verification, clear refund/return timelines, counterfeit delisting, and transparency on ranking/recommendations. Lead: CCP with MoC/industry.
• Cybersecurity & data protection measures: minimum security baselines, privacy disclosures, secure auth, breach notification, public awareness. Lead: MoITT with FIA/CCP/Data Protection Authority (forthcoming).

5) Integration into global e-commerce ecosystems

This pillar is explicitly part of the framework and the policy’s lifecycle emphasis (onboarding through cross-border integration). The contents list a full section on this pillar; details of specific actions fall beyond the excerpt provided here.

Implementation & governance (how this gets delivered)

The policy includes a dedicated Implementation Mechanism with:

• Governance & institutional structure
• Pillar-wise implementation timeline
• Monitoring & evaluation (M&E)
  (These sections are indicated in the document’s structure.)

Who does what — recurring leads across pillars

• MoITT (digital onboarding, grievance system, cybersecurity, PSW integration).
• SBP (payment interoperability, tiered e-KYC, financing, sandbox/open finance, cross-border payments with MoITT).
• CCP (consumer framework, platform code, reverse logistics framework).
• NADRA (national addressing/geo-mapping; identity rails for e-KYC).
• Ministry of Communications / Pakistan Post / NLC (infrastructure expansion, standards).
• TDAP/SMEDA/TEVTA/NAVTTC (skills & export readiness).

What to watch (risks & dependencies)

• Inter-agency execution: one-window systems only work if data-sharing and SLAs across SECP/FBR/NADRA/provinces are enforceable.
• Merchant & consumer trust: grievance SLAs, visible platform compliance, and real fraud mitigation are critical to shift away from CoD.
• Last-mile economics: rural delivery, addressing, and reverse logistics determine whether MSMEs outside big cities can truly participate.
• Inclusion at the edges: youth 15–18, women, and informal sellers benefit only if outreach and supervised participation pathways are implemented as designed.