PMA strike 30 September: private clinics to shut over FBR POS rule

Private clinics and hospitals across Pakistan are set to close on Wednesday, 30 September 2026, after the Pakistan Medical Association (PMA) called a nationwide strike against the FBR's POS rule, which makes medical practices issue every bill through a point-of-sale system linked to the tax authority. PMA Punjab has also called a convention in Gujrat on Sunday, 11 October to decide what comes next.

What closes on 30 September

• Private clinics, private hospitals and other private medical establishments. The PMA Centre has told its provincial and district branches to shut facilities completely; all PMA Punjab district branches have said they will comply.
• Government hospitals are not named in any of the PMA calls reported so far.
• Emergencies: none of the reports says whether private emergency departments will stay open. If you have an appointment, a dialysis session or a procedure booked at a private hospital that day, call ahead and ask.

PMA Secretary General Dr Abdul Ghafoor Shoro told Dawn that private hospitals meet more than 70% of Pakistan's healthcare needs, which is why a full-day closure matters to patients even when it is described as symbolic.

The FBR rule the doctors are fighting

The dispute is over three things:

1. Mandatory POS integration. Under SRO 288(I)/2026, issued on 19 February 2026, private hospitals, clinics, diagnostic laboratories, dental and veterinary practices were listed among businesses that must register and integrate their billing hardware and software with the FBR's system. No supply may be made except through an integrated outlet, POS system or electronic bill-issuing machine. A later FBR notification, reported by Dawn in July, requires real-time verifiable electronic invoices for all taxable supplies and six years of record-keeping.
2. Section 175C proceedings. The PMA objects to FBR action under Section 175C of the Income Tax Ordinance, which it calls aggressive and humiliating.
3. Fines and raids. The association says private hospitals have faced heavy fines and raids and wants both stopped.

The PMA's case is that medicine is a professional service, not retail trade, and that doctors already pay income tax. In November 2025 it rejected an earlier FBR directive for POS machines at clinics charging a consultation fee of Rs 500 or more and took the matter to the High Court, according to Pakistan Observer.

What it means for you as a patient

• 30 September: expect most private OPDs to be shut. Plan a government hospital visit, or move a routine appointment to 1 October.
• After the strike: if POS integration goes ahead, your clinic, lab or hospital bill would be issued through an FBR-linked system in real time, the way restaurant and retail bills already are. The PMA warns that compliance costs will be passed on to patients; the FBR has not published any estimate of that cost.
• Longer term: the PMA has threatened an indefinite suspension of services if what it calls harassment continues. Nothing has been announced beyond 30 September and the 11 October meeting.

What each side wants

The PMA wants the POS requirement withdrawn, fines cancelled and raids stopped, and PMA Punjab President Dr Kamran Saeed Sheikh has asked Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to intervene. None of the reports carries an FBR response to the strike call. The same push to put every sale on the FBR's computer is behind its faceless audit move to IRIS and the new sales tax e-scrutiny under SRO 1655.

If you are a doctor working out what the tax on your practice income comes to, our income tax calculator covers the current slabs.