Punjab Regulation of Kite Flying Act 2025

21 September 2026 · 5 min read · Written in Lahore

Basant came back because a law was written to allow it under conditions, and the same law is why the conditions are not negotiable. The Punjab Regulation of Kite Flying Act 2025 was passed by the Provincial Assembly of the Punjab on 24 December 2025, and it governs everything about this festival that carries a prison term.

This page is about the statute: what it prohibits, what it punishes and who enforces it. The material specification it enforces — cotton, 9 tar, 28 count — is set out in the rules, and the conduct rules for rooftops are separate again.

Is kite flying illegal in Pakistan?

In Punjab, kite flying is prohibited by default and lawful only where the government permits it — on specific days, at designated locations, under conditions. Deputy Commissioners are empowered to allow "permissible kite flying" subject to government approval, which is why Basant exists as three announced days rather than an open season, as Dawn reported when the rules were notified.

So the honest answer is: not illegal, but not permitted unless it has been permitted. That distinction is the whole architecture of the law.

What the Act prohibits

Flying a kite with metallic wire, nylon cord, or string coated with glass or other sharp material. And, separately, the manufacture, transport, storage and sale of such string and of kites outside what is permitted.

Note what the second half means. The Act does not only reach the person on the roof. It reaches the workshop, the van, the godown and the shop, which is why the supply chain now runs through registration at all.

The three penalty tiers

That third row is the one most people have never heard of. Selling lawful kites while unregistered is its own offence, which is why "the stock is fine, don't worry about the paperwork" is not a reassurance — it is a description of a crime with a minimum of one year attached.

The first row is the one you will meet in practice, and the dor page states it where it belongs — next to the specification that decides whether a spool is lawful. The full schedule is here.

Police powers under the Act

The offences are cognizable and non-bailable. A police officer of sub-inspector rank or above may search or arrest without a warrant on information about prohibited kite material, and the government may extend those powers to other departments by notification.

Cognizable means no complaint is needed before police act. Non-bailable means bail is not a matter of right. Put together with warrantless search, it explains why Punjab Police enforcement runs months ahead of the festival rather than during it, and why seized stock and arrests are reported through the autumn.

What this means if you are buying

You are not a bystander in a regulated market. Flying with prohibited string is an offence in your own name, regardless of who sold it to you or what they told you it was.

Three habits cover almost all of the risk. Buy from someone who is registered in the seller category and can show it — how to check. Look for the QR code on the pinna, which ties the line to a registered manufacturer. And walk away from anything recommended on the basis that it cuts better, because that recommendation is the entire reason this law exists.

Why the law is written this way

Because of what the old festival cost. The ban that ran from 2007 followed years of deaths and serious injuries from sharp string, particularly to motorcyclists and pillion riders. The Act's severity is a direct answer to that history, which the longer account of the ban and the return covers properly.