Market Closing Time in Pakistan: 9pm Shops, 10pm Weddings, Province by Province

Shops and markets close at 9pm, wedding halls at 10pm and restaurants at 11pm, every day of the week. That is the federal order of 17 September 2026. It binds Islamabad, but provinces only "may consider" it, so your city's time depends on your province.

We read the Cabinet Division notification itself, No. 7-2/2026-Min.I., on the Cabinet Division website on 25 September 2026. As of that evening, we found Balochistan reported as having notified the same times, Punjab reported as keeping its own 9pm order from June, and no current order for Sindh or Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Pharmacies, hospitals, standalone bakeries, tandoors, milk shops, petrol and CNG pumps, gyms and IT companies are exempt everywhere the order applies. Takeaway and home delivery can continue after 11pm.

The federal notification sets 9pm, 10pm and 11pm closing times

The Cabinet Division order of 17 September 2026 keeps the market closing times first set on 19 June 2026. Shops, malls and bazaars close at 9pm, wedding venues at 10pm, and restaurants at 11pm, on all seven days, including Saturday and Sunday.

The same order also tells marriage functions to serve a single dish. The rest of it is about the government's own spending. Fuel for official vehicles is cut by half for three months, and buying new official vehicles and durables is banned. Foreign visits by officials are stopped for three months, and official dinners are off, except for visiting foreign delegations.

The notification gives no reason beyond "austerity and fuel conservation". The measures first began in March, when the April order spoke of a "continuing Gulf oil crisis". Fuel is still expensive: the petrol price on 25 September was Rs 389.28 a litre.

Closing times differ by province, and only some are notified

Shop hours are a provincial and district matter. The federal order says provincial and regional governments "may consider adopting similar measures". It does not order them to. So the 9pm rule is certain in Islamabad and depends on a provincial notification everywhere else.

Two points matter for Punjab. First, its own June order is reported to use the same three times, so nothing changes on the ground there. Second, the 10pm limit for weddings is not only an austerity measure in Punjab. Under the Punjab Marriage Functions Act 2016, weddings in Punjab must end by 10pm and serve one dish, and that is permanent law with fines.

The All Punjab Grocers Association was reported as saying its members would not close at 9pm. That is a trade body's position, not a change in the rule.

In Sindh, a provincial official was reported on 19 September as saying a decision in line with the federal order would come the following week. We found no Sindh notification by the evening of 25 September. Until one appears, Karachi shops have no fixed closing time that we could confirm.

Pharmacies, bakeries, milk shops and petrol pumps stay open

The federal order exempts essential services from any closing time. Pharmacies, medical stores, labs, clinics and hospitals stay open. So do standalone bakeries, tandoors, milk and dairy shops, fuel and CNG pumps, electric vehicle chargers, gyms, sports courts, IT companies and call centres.

The word "standalone" does real work here. A bakery counter inside a supermarket is part of the supermarket, so it follows the 9pm rule. A bakery that is its own shop can stay open.

Restaurants must close their dining rooms at 11pm, but takeaway and home delivery are exempt. So a food app order after 11pm is still allowed under the federal text.

Any business that wants its own exemption can apply. The order says requests are considered case by case by the Committee for Monitoring and Implementation of Fuel Conservation and Additional Austerity Measures, which sends its recommendation to the Prime Minister.

Grocery shops sit in a grey area between two notifications

The 17 September order says the June timings "shall continue to remain applicable", then lists grocery and kiryana stores at 9pm. But the 19 June order it points to put standalone grocery and kiryana stores at 11pm. The two texts do not match.

We read both documents on the Cabinet Division website. In the June order, the 9pm row covers "Departmental and general stores" only, and "standalone grocery and kiryana stores" sit in the 11pm row with fruit and vegetable shops. In the September order, the 9pm row reads "Departmental, grocery, general and kiryana stores".

Before June 19 there was a third version. A 10 June order had moved standalone grocery and kiryana stores to 10pm.

The safe reading for a corner shop owner is 9pm, because that is the latest text. If your district administration tells you otherwise, ask for the order number in writing. We have not seen any federal clarification.

No end date and no penalty appear in the federal order

The three month limit in the 17 September order applies to the official fuel cut and the foreign travel ban. The market timings have no end date. The order also names no fine or penalty for a shop that stays open late.

Enforcement is left to whoever applies the order locally. In Islamabad that is the ICT administration. In a province it would be the district administration acting under a provincial notification. Any fine or sealing would have to come from that local order, not from the federal text.

So if an official tells you to shut, it is fair to ask which notification they are enforcing and its date. That is not a challenge. It is how you find out whether the rule actually applies to your shop.

For workers, closing time does not change what you are owed. Your hours and rest breaks are set by provincial labour law, and shop workers in Punjab keep those rights whatever time the shutter comes down.

Check your own district's order in five steps

The quickest check is the notification itself. Start with the federal text on the Cabinet Division website, then look for your province's Home Department order, then your Deputy Commissioner's announcements. A shop only has to follow an order that covers its area.

1. Open cabinet.gov.pk and find "Austerity and Fuel Conservation Measures (17-09-2026)". The PDF lists every closing time and exemption.
2. Look for a notification from your province's Home Department or Chief Secretary with a date after 17 September 2026. No provincial order means the federal times are advice, not a rule, in your area.
3. Check the official X or Facebook account of your Deputy Commissioner. District orders on shop timings are often posted there first.
4. Ask your market association for the notification number and date. A real order always has both.
5. If an order exists, check the exempt list before you close. Bakeries, milk shops, pharmacies and takeaway counters are usually outside it.

We tried the Punjab Home Department and Punjab government websites on 25 September and neither answered our request. The ICT administration website loaded, but its shops page carried no timing notice.

Five federal orders have set the closing times since April

Market curbs started on 7 April 2026 at 8pm for shops. They moved to 9pm on 3 June, grocery stores got changes on 10 and 19 June, and on 17 September the June times were confirmed again for all seven days of the week.

Schools felt the same push in Sindh, where school timings were cut by an hour in September with fuel saving given as one reason.

Common questions

What time do shops close in Pakistan now?

In Islamabad, 9pm every day under the federal order of 17 September 2026. In Punjab and Balochistan, 9pm is reported under provincial orders. In Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa we found no current fixed closing time.

Do the new market timings apply on Saturday and Sunday?

Yes. The federal order says the times apply on all days of the week.

Can restaurants deliver food after 11pm?

Yes. Takeaway and home delivery are exempt from the 11pm limit in the federal order. Only dine-in has to stop.

Are medical stores and petrol pumps open at night?

Yes. Pharmacies, medical stores, labs, clinics, hospitals, fuel and CNG pumps and electric vehicle chargers are all exempt.

How long will the 9pm closing time last?

No end date is given for market timings. The three month period in the order covers the official fuel cut and the foreign travel ban, not shop hours.

Is there a fine for keeping a shop open after 9pm?

The federal order names no fine. Any penalty would come from a provincial or district order, so ask the official for its number and date.

Does the one dish rule apply to private weddings?

The federal order says a single dish shall be served at all marriage functions. In Punjab, one dish is also required by the Marriage Functions Act 2016, and that applies to hired venues.

Last checked and sources

Last checked 25 September 2026, about 18:30 PKT. We read the Cabinet Division notification No. 7-2/2026-Min.I. dated 17 September 2026 in full on cabinet.gov.pk, including the closing time table, the exempt list, the single dish line, the three month limits, the exemption committee and the sentence that provincial and regional governments may consider similar measures. We also read the compiled June PDF on the same site, which carries the orders of 6 April, 3 June, 10 June and 19 June 2026 that set and changed the timings. Every closing time in the first table is from those documents.

The provincial positions are reported, not read at source. Punjab's order of 4 June 2026 and its continued use, the Punjab grocers' statement, Sindh's lifting of curbs in May and the comment on 19 September that a decision was due, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's April times and May relaxation, and Balochistan's notification of about 24 September all come from press reports we could not match to a provincial website. The Punjab Home Department website did not respond, and we found no notice on the ICT administration website. Anything a province or district issues after 25 September replaces this table, and the order for your own area is the one to follow.