ISLAMABAD: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has made digital payments mandatory for bookings at KP Houses in Islamabad, Abbottabad and Peshawar to streamline the process and curb chances of pilferage.

In the second phase, 100 per cent digital payments will be introduced at all circuit houses across KP.

Additional Secretary (admin) Dr Muhammad Asif Rahim told Dawn that the system had been developed to ensure full digital payments for room rents by guests booking KP government-managed rest houses.

“It will replace the earlier manual rent and cash collection system, which had the potential risk of pilferage or losses. The system allows guests to create IDs, log in, and book rooms of their choice through interactive, colour-coded, floor-wise room maps. It also enables the chief secretary’s office to directly monitor the performance of guest houses in terms of rent collection trends and occupancy analytics, while maintaining a complete record of all guests,” he said.

Second phase to extend digital payments to all circuit houses across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

It is worth mentioning that rooms in KP Houses can only be booked by government officials.

Dr Rahim said the e-booking initiative — on the directive of KP Chief Secretary Shahab Ali Shah — would help prevent possible pilferage in room rent collection by replacing manual cash handling.

“Similarly, the e-VLMS (Vehicle Lifecycle Management System) has been established to prevent misuse of government vehicles by ensuring seamless entries by departments in areas such as procurement, allotment, transfer, repair, maintenance, and auction. The administration department will maintain a complete record of all these aspects and ensure usage of vehicles as per entitlement,” he added. A user manual and video tutorial has been prepared to help officers and departments enter data to various functions through dedicated dashboards.

The portal has been developed in collaboration with the KP Information Technology Board. The efforts were supervised by Additional Secretary Asif Rahim under the guidance of Additional Chief Secretary Abid Majeed.

Both systems are ready and will be inaugurated next week by the chief secretary and other senior government officials.

Published in Dawn, April 19th, 2026