What is PDPL and why does it apply to thermal receipts?

Saudi Arabia's Personal Data Protection Law (PDPL) came into full force in September 2024 and is enforced by SDAIA. Thermal receipts that contain customer phone numbers, names, or loyalty IDs are personal data under the law. Printing, storing, or discarding them without consent logs, retention policies, and breach procedures is a PDPL violation subject to fines up to SAR 5 million.

How much are PDPL fines in Saudi Arabia?

PDPL fines reach up to SAR 5,000,000 per violation and can be doubled for repeat offenders. SDAIA has already issued 48+ enforcement decisions. Organizations must notify SDAIA of a breach within 72 hours.

How does Wateer make a merchant PDPL-ready?

Wateer replaces thermal printers with digital receipts delivered via NFC or QR. Every receipt is logged with consent, encrypted at rest, structured the way SDAIA expects, and exportable on demand. Integration with any major Saudi POS takes 4 to 5 minutes and covers ZATCA e-invoicing at the same time.

Does Wateer cover ZATCA e-invoicing as well?

Yes. Wateer is ZATCA-aligned end-to-end. A single integration covers both PDPL and ZATCA — no second vendor, no second legal review.

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November 18, 2025

Wateer Named Among Winning Teams at ZATCA Hackathon 2025 in Riyadh

Wateer, the Saudi digital receipts platform, has been named among the three winning teams at the ZATCA Hackathon 2025, organized…

Wateer, the Saudi digital receipts platform, has been named among the three winning teams at the ZATCA Hackathon 2025, organized by the Zakat, Tax and Customs Authority (ZATCA) in Riyadh and concluded in November 2025.

A competitive field

The hackathon attracted more than 600 registrants and over 180 teams, of which seven advanced to the final stage. Competitors developed digital solutions across the zakat, tax and customs domains, with the programme structured around three tracks: port development, data analysis, and awareness.

At the close of the competition, ZATCA crowned three winning teams. Wateer competed in the ports track, presenting a solution that addresses tax compliance challenges through a practical and innovative methodology.

Recognition and next steps

Each winning team earned a seat in the MVP Lab program operated by the National Technology Development Programme (NTDP), giving the selected teams a structured environment in which to advance their concepts toward viable products.

Commenting on the result in an official post on X, Wateer said: "We were honored to be among the winning teams at the ZATCA Hackathon."

Collaboration behind the event

The ZATCA Hackathon 2025 was organized in collaboration with the Saudi Federation for Cybersecurity, Programming and Drones (SAFCSP) and the National Technology Development Programme (NTDP). The partnership brought together a regulatory authority, a national technical community body, and a technology development programme, linking the competition's problem statements directly to the operational priorities of zakat, tax and customs work.

Why the ports track matters

By dedicating one of the three tracks to port development, the organizers placed customs operations at the centre of the competition alongside data analysis and awareness. Solutions in this area sit at the intersection of trade movement and compliance obligations, which is the space Wateer's submission targeted. The team's focus on tax compliance challenges reflects the wider shift toward digital documentation of commercial transactions in the Kingdom, an area in which digital receipts play a direct role.

Wateer's position

Wateer operates as a digital receipts platform, an activity closely tied to the electronic documentation requirements overseen by ZATCA. Recognition at an event hosted by the Authority itself places the company's work within the same framework it serves commercially, and the MVP Lab seat awarded to the winning teams offers a route to develop the submitted concept further under the National Technology Development Programme.