The government has decided to conduct an independent review and audit of its “Cashless Economy Initiative 2025,” covering its design, implementation, impact, and governance mechanisms.
The initiative aims to transition government systems and the broader economy towards a cashless and digitally enabled framework. This strategic shift is anchored in a broader vision to promote transparency, increase financial inclusion, enhance public service delivery, expand the tax base, and reduce leakages in government transactions.
A high-level committee was established in June 2025 to oversee implementation, with weekly reviews to ensure progress. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s directions and the work plans for all agencies have been compiled into directives and a roadmap that will be provided to the selected bidder. Three functional committees were also constituted to drive innovation and implementation in the areas of digital payments innovation and adoption, digital public infrastructure, and government payments.
Key components of the initiative include digitizing all G2P and P2G payments, enabling retailers to adopt digital payment modes, and implementing critical infrastructure under the programme’s scope.
Given the scale, complexity, and national importance of the initiative, the government is seeking the services of a qualified consultancy firm, to be selected through an international competitive bidding process, to conduct an independent review and audit of the initiative’s design, implementation, impact, and governance mechanisms.
Objectives of the Cashless Economy Initiative Audit
The objective of this assignment is to conduct a comprehensive performance audit of the Cashless Economy Initiative. This will include a periodic review of progress against set targets and KPIs, evaluation of institutional arrangements, operational frameworks, and governance mechanisms, identification of key challenges, risks, and gaps in implementation, and provision of actionable recommendations to strengthen ongoing and future phases.
The consultant will be responsible for the following tasks:
- Assess compliance with directives and national policy decisions issued under the initiative.
- Evaluate whether the goals and targets are suitable and achievable given the policy, regulatory, institutional, and technological infrastructure currently available.
- Assess the implementation strategy, including phasing, coordination mechanisms, and resource allocation.
- Evaluate the effectiveness of the implementation strategies adopted to achieve the targets and provide recommendations for improvement.
The consultancy firm will also be expected to review progress towards quantitative goals, including the number of users, number of merchants, transaction volume, and geographic coverage. It will analyze data trends in Raast and QR-code payments, digital wallet adoption, and public-sector digital transactions.
Additionally, the consultancy will assess the performance and effectiveness of the three oversight committees: (a) Digital Payments Adoption and Innovation, (b) Digital Public Infrastructure, and (c) Government Payments. The review will also include coordination between public and private institutions involved in the initiative, as well as internal and external monitoring systems.
Finally, the consultant will be required to frame recommendations for ensuring effective and timely implementation of cashless initiatives. This may also include suggestions for new initiatives under the broader agenda of Cashless Pakistan and its future evolution.