PRRO failed to register due to a glitch: a step-by-step guide

The first thought that crosses an entrepreneur’s mind when the PRRO “crashes” is: “That’s it — I’m going to get a fine.” This is especially true if the customer has already paid for the purchase, picked up the merchandise, and the receipt is stuck somewhere between the cash register and the State Tax Service server.

A technical glitch in and of itself does not necessarily constitute a violation. Ukrainian Law No. 265 and the procedures for working with the PRRO provide for situations where fiscal registration may be temporarily delayed due to connection issues, problems with the State Tax Service server, or issues with the software itself. The key is not to ignore the problem and to follow the correct procedure.

In this article, we’ll discuss what to do if the PRRO didn’t fiscalize a receipt, how to handle unfiscalized transactions after a failure, and what steps will help minimize the risk of fines.

Step 1. Record the fiscalization error

The first thing to do if an error occurs during the fiscalization of the PRRO is to document all the circumstances of the incident. This will help confirm that the problem was technical in nature and will serve as evidence in the event of inquiries from regulatory authorities.

We recommend keeping these confirmations at least until all receipts have been assigned fiscal numbers and there are no longer any questions regarding the transaction in question. If an audit is conducted, they will help confirm that the issue was technical in nature.

Step 2. Run non-fiscalized receipts after resuming operations

Once the outage has been resolved, it is not enough to simply wait for the internet or the fiscal server to come back online. You must ensure that all receipts that were not fiscalized during the outage have been successfully transmitted to the State Tax Service and have received fiscal numbers.

You can check the status of your receipts via:

• Taxpayer’s Account;
• the transaction log in the cash register software, for example, in “Vchasno.Kasa”—this is the Receipts section.

If a customer’s payment was successfully processed through a bank or payment terminal but the receipt did not receive a fiscal number, this is typically due to a malfunction of the PRRO (software failure, device malfunction, etc.). In such cases, there is a separate procedure: a report on the detection of PRRO malfunctions using Form No. 2-PRRO (Appendix 2 to Order No. 317), and after restoration — an Application for PRRO Registration using Form No. 1-PRRO with a note indicating restoration. These can be submitted through the Taxpayer’s Account.

Therefore, if the number is available, you must wait for synchronization upon restoration of service; if it is not available, you must submit a Report on the Detection of PRRO Malfunctions using Form No. 2-PRRO.

💡 Important: Keep in mind the specifics of working offline during martial law

Under normal conditions, the PRRO can operate offline for no more than 36 consecutive hours and no more than 168 hours per month. These restrictions are established by Ministry of Finance Order No. 317.

However, during martial law, these limits are temporarily suspended. Therefore, exceeding 36 or 168 hours due to a lack of connectivity will not, in and of itself, result in the PRRO being blocked.

At the same time, offline receipts can only be generated within the limits of pre-reserved fiscal numbers. The PRRO can hold up to 2,000 of these.

When this supply runs out, the program will be unable to create new receipts until communication with the fiscal server is restored and the PRRO receives new numbers.

Therefore, once the connection is restored, you should immediately check the status of all receipts and ensure they have been transmitted to the State Tax Service. This will help replenish the supply of fiscal numbers and allow you to continue working without interruption.

Step 3. Incorrect VAT rate in non-fiscalized receipts

Special attention should be paid to situations where, during a system failure or automatic integration with a marketplace, an incorrect VAT rate appears on a receipt. This can happen after updating the product catalog or synchronizing with an external system, when the rate is automatically set to 20%, even though a different rate should apply to a specific product or service.

This issue is particularly relevant for businesses that use marketplaces, CRM systems, or other automated integrations with the cash register software.

If the error is detected before the receipt is submitted to the State Tax Service, do not synchronize such documents without first verifying them. You must first correct the error.

In such a situation, it is recommended to:

• check the receipts remaining in the queue for submission;
• identify documents with an incorrect VAT rate;
• generate a credit memo in accordance with legal requirements;
• issue a new receipt with the correct rate and accurate details;
• only then submit the documents to the State Tax Service.

It is important to remember that even if the cause of the error is related to a system failure or incorrect integration, the business entity remains responsible for the accuracy of the payment document’s details.

Step 4. How to avoid repeated outages: recommendations from the Vchasno.Kasa team

Based on the experience of the Vchasno.Kasa support team, in most cases the cause of the failure is not the PRRO itself, but external factors: internet outages, power outages, or temporary unavailability of State Tax Service (DPS) services.

It is precisely for such situations that the law provides for the PRRO’s offline mode. Its main purpose is to allow businesses to continue operating even when the connection to the fiscal server is temporarily lost.

While operating in offline mode, receipts are stored locally on the device and automatically transmitted to the State Tax Service once the connection is restored. Provided that established deadlines are met, this helps avoid violations and ensures the continuity of the retail outlet’s operations.

This is particularly important for businesses during:

• power outages;
• mobile network disruptions;
• emergency maintenance by the service provider;
• peak loads on the State Tax Service infrastructure.

If your business regularly operates in areas with unstable internet connectivity or during power outages, you should use a point-of-sale system with an automatic offline mode. In Vchasno.Kasa, this feature works without any additional configuration and automatically transmits accumulated receipts once connectivity is restored.

Is there a fine for a failure to comply with fiscalization requirements?

Business owners often mistakenly believe that any malfunction during the operation of the cash register system automatically results in penalties. In reality, to assess the risks, it is important to distinguish between two different situations.

The first is when a technical failure occurred, but after operations were restored, the receipt was successfully transmitted to the State Tax Service. The second is when a payment transaction was not actually fiscalized or was not processed through the POS system at all.

In the first case, the mere fact of a malfunction is not grounds for automatically imposing a fine. In the second case, however, regulatory authorities may view the situation as a violation of the procedure for conducting payment transactions, which entails financial liability in accordance with paragraph 1 of Article 17 of Law of Ukraine No. 265/95-VR “On the Use of Cash Registers.”

That is why, following any malfunction, it is important not only to restore the cash register’s operation but also to ensure that all receipts have been successfully registered with the State Tax Service.

Next, we will examine in which cases penalties may apply and when a technical malfunction will not have negative consequences for the business.

It is important to note that, effective August 1, 2025, the standard penalty rates — 100% and 150% of the value of goods or services sold — will once again apply to single-tax payers.

Conclusion

If the PRRO failed to fiscalize a receipt due to a technical glitch, the most important thing is not to panic and not to let the situation get out of hand. Most such cases can be successfully resolved without penalties if you promptly identify the cause of the glitch, verify the status of the documents after operations resume, and ensure that all receipts are submitted to the State Tax Service.

Based on the experience of the Vchasno.Kasa team, the greatest risks arise not from the failure itself, but from a lack of follow-up monitoring of unfiscalized documents. That is why, after any technical issue, it is essential to verify that every transaction has received a fiscal number and has been successfully registered in the State Tax Service system.