World Bank Connected Punjab funding cannot start flowing until the province completes a set of rules, approvals and signed agreements. The $70 million programme was approved on June 30, 2026, but it has not yet become effective, and no money has been disbursed against its revised allocation of $69.25 million. The details come from the first implementation status report the World Bank has published on the project, which lists the steps still outstanding before the planned online government services and digital payments can start.
Why the programme has not started
The most immediate blocker is paperwork. Financing and implementation agreements remain unsigned, and approval of the project documents for cashless transactions and the investment financing component is still pending. The Punjab Information Technology Board (PITB) has received approval from the Provincial Development Working Party for PC-I documents covering broadband and digital service delivery. A PC-I is the standard project proposal form used for development schemes in Pakistan.
The World Bank has rated progress towards the programme's development objectives and overall implementation as moderately satisfactory, and it gave the project a moderate overall risk rating. Device certification for point-of-sale (PoS) terminals is also unfinished, as is a plan to encourage cashless transactions. The report does not say when the outstanding agreements are expected to be signed.
Deadlines and targets
Under the digital governance component, Punjab must set up an artificial intelligence (AI) oversight committee that includes citizen representatives by June 2027. An AI programme manual, an AI-for-service-delivery roadmap and a data governance framework are due by December 2027. Personal data protection and cybersecurity strategies are to be approved and notified by June 2028, and the programme aims to launch 28 AI-enabled services by June 2031.
Fixed-broadband coverage was 7.8 million people in April 2026, and the target is 9.9 million people by July 2031, an increase of 2.1 million by simple subtraction. The plan also covers 82 urbanised areas and seeks $50 million of private investment. The share of women using digitally enabled government-to-citizen services stood at 19% in March 2026 and is meant to climb to 30% before the programme closes.
Infrastructure work depends on right-of-way (RoW) permits, the approvals needed to lay cables and other network assets on public land. The aim is to bring the average processing time for these permits down to 21 days, from 90 days, by June 2031, and to let 40 agencies process them on a digital platform. Rules on refunding or dropping RoW and reinstatement fees need to be in place by January 31, 2027, and the provincial e-Biz portal is expected to process permit applications and complaints linked to them by December 2027.
The cashless component targets 350,000 people by June 2031. Of that total, 105,000 are meant to be women and 157,500 young people. Other goals include setting rules for companies that provide point-of-sale (PoS) services, a digital invoice management system, and wider digital PoS payments so that 35 business sectors can use them.
Timeline: what has happened so far
- June 30, 2026: The programme was approved, but it has not become effective because agreements are unsigned.
- March 2026: The share of women using digitally enabled government-to-citizen services was recorded at 19%.
- April 2026: Fixed-broadband coverage was recorded at 7.8 million people.
- January 31, 2027: Deadline for setting rules on refunding or waiving RoW and reinstatement fees.
- June 2027: Deadline for setting up the AI oversight committee with citizen representation.
Aasan alfaaz mein
World Bank Connected Punjab funding abhi tak shuru nahi hui, kyunke financing aur implementation agreements par dastakhat nahi huye. Is programme mein broadband, digital sarkari sewaayein aur cashless payments shamil hain, lekin AI, data protection aur cybersecurity ke rules pehle mukammal hone hain. Iska matlab hai ke aam logon ko nayi sewaon ka faida fori tor par nahi milega. Punjab IT project ki taraqqi par nazar rakhna zaroori hai, kyunke kaam ki deadlines 2027 se 2031 tak phaili hui hain.
