Pakistan is still far behind in chasing the west in this regard. Entrepreneurs in Pakistan are of the opinion that e- commerce means being able to make and receive payments through internet and any other activity through internet is not considered as e-commerce. This low level of understanding has led many Pakistani firms to give low priority to e-commerce due to unavailability of proper framework for the internet in the country.

In Pakistan, e-commerce is still in its infancy and faces many barriers to grow. The notable barriers are: unavailability of proper infrastructure [telephone line of stem lines of steam age, frequent failures of power] limited user of internet hardly one per cent of the entire population have access to the internet], the issue of security of transactions on the internet, high bandwidth rates, and last but not least the rigid and monopoly role of the PTCL.

However, the SBP has recently put a crack on the barriers when it approved the merchant ID accounts to facilitate online transactions. But there is still a long way to go and requires government to continue to grease the wheels of e-commerce to speed up the process.