THE setting up of the Punjab Enforcement and Regulatory Authority (Pera) indicates a well-intentioned push for municipal order. However, its current architecture relies heavily on executive-led policing, physical raids and vast discretionary powers its field officers enjoy. This outdated model creates parallel jurisdictions with local bodies, and heightens corruption risks for daily-wage vendors. To achieve lasting institutional reforms, Punjab must look towards Singapore’s data-driven municipal framework. Instead of arbitrary physical crackdowns, we must embrace digital intermediation.
The Punjab Information Technology Board (PITB) should transition all market licensing and daily price tracking to a single digital portal. Second, enforcement must shift to a risk-based model, exempting low-risk street vendors, and focus state resources strictly on the major wholesale hoarders.
Replacing summary on-site penalties with an automated demerit points system will remove individual administrative discretion, which, indeed, is the root cause of bribery. Pakistan cannot police its way towards economic stability. True municipal governance is based on quiet, automated and invisible digital tracking, not on heavy-handed street enforcement.
The provincial government in Punjab must redesign Pera from a punitive force into a transparent regulatory institution.
Aazram Mehreen
Gujranwala
Published in Dawn, October 14th, 2026
