Audit uncovers PKR38B loss in Pakistan’s faceless automated import clearance system

A sweeping audit of Pakistan’s flagship Faceless Customs Assessment (FCA) system has revealed a staggering PKR 38 billion revenue loss in just three months, exposing deep flaws in the country’s automated import clearance regime that was intended to fight corruption and improve transparency.

The report, compiled by the Directorate General of Post Clearance Audit (PCA), examined transactions processed through the WeBOC system between Dec 16, 2024, and March 15, 2025. Auditors reviewed just 13,140 out of 149,086 total Goods Declarations (GDs) and found that nearly one in five declarations (19.3%) involved irregularities.

The report paints a troubling picture of a system riddled with misdeclarations, illegal exemptions, tax evasion, and lack of oversight.

Among the most serious findings:

• PKR 7.44 billion in tax and duty evasion from just 1,524 GDs, including uncollected fines worth PKR 2.43 billion due to the non-framing of mandatory contravention cases.
• PKR 10.5 billion worth of restricted goods cleared in violation of the Import Policy Order (IPO).
• PKR 30.36 billion lost due to unframed contravention cases under SRO 499(I)/2009 — only 2% of eligible cases were booked.
• Suspected fiscal fraud involving duty evasion on luxury vehicles, unauthorized customs user IDs, and possible trade-based money laundering in solar panel imports.

Auditors raised red flags about the import of luxury vehicles, where under-invoicing discrepancies reached 91%. In one case, the declared value of 1,335 vehicles was PKR 670 million with declared taxes of PKR 1.29 million, a figure the audit adjusted upward to PKR 7.25 billion, but without proof of legitimate foreign remittance, raising suspicions of illegal payment channels.

“This is not just an administrative oversight, it’s a revenue disaster,” said a senior customs official familiar with the report.

The report also flagged PKR 643 million in solar panel imports cleared using unauthorized customs user IDs. Many of these containers were left unclaimed for over two years before being processed, a highly unusual delay in high-value imports.

The FCA system, envisioned as a modernization tool, is now being blamed for weakening accountability. Over 100 officers facilitate customs clearances under FCA, but only nine PCA officers were assigned for post-clearance audits.

The audit team said it was unable to examine the full dataset due to severe human resource constraints, suggesting actual losses may be far higher than reported.