diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 69a8f82..498fe31 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -38,6 +38,14 @@ semantic versioning.
 
 ### Fixed
 
+- Published packet payloads carry UTC in every time field, not just `timestamp`
+  (#278). `time` and `date` came from a local `datetime.now()` while the
+  `timestamp` beside them was UTC, so a consumer reading the pair off a bot in a
+  non-UTC zone saw a skew of exactly that zone's offset and flagged the observer's
+  clock as wrong. The original script took those two fields off the firmware log
+  line, which runs on the device's UTC clock, so a host-local reading was never
+  intended. All three fields now render one UTC instant.
+
 - Weather output no longer leaks translation key paths into mesh broadcasts. The
   localization pass replaced several `dict.get(key, fallback)` lookups with bare
   `translate()` calls, and `Translator.translate` returns the dotted key path when
diff --git a/modules/service_plugins/packet_capture_service.py b/modules/service_plugins/packet_capture_service.py
index b561eeb..5fac5ec 100644
--- a/modules/service_plugins/packet_capture_service.py
+++ b/modules/service_plugins/packet_capture_service.py
@@ -850,9 +850,13 @@ class PacketCaptureService(BaseServicePlugin):
         return iat, iat + ttl
 
     @staticmethod
-    def _utc_iso_timestamp() -> str:
-        """UTC ISO 8601 timestamp with Z suffix for broad consumer compatibility."""
-        return datetime.now(timezone.utc).isoformat().replace("+00:00", "Z")
+    def _utc_iso_timestamp(moment: datetime | None = None) -> str:
+        """UTC ISO 8601 timestamp with Z suffix for broad consumer compatibility.
+
+        Pass ``moment`` to render an instant the caller already has, so every
+        time field in one payload agrees instead of straddling a second boundary.
+        """
+        return (moment or datetime.now(timezone.utc)).isoformat().replace("+00:00", "Z")
 
     @staticmethod
     def _disconnect_reason(rc: int) -> str:
@@ -1190,8 +1194,12 @@ class PacketCaptureService(BaseServicePlugin):
         Returns:
             dict[str, Any]: Formatted packet dictionary.
         """
-        current_time = datetime.now()
-        timestamp = self._utc_iso_timestamp()
+        # One UTC instant for the whole payload. "time"/"date" mirror "timestamp"
+        # because the original script read them off the firmware log line, which
+        # runs on the device's UTC clock — rendering them in the host's local
+        # zone here reads downstream as clock skew of exactly the UTC offset.
+        current_time = datetime.now(timezone.utc)
+        timestamp = self._utc_iso_timestamp(current_time)
 
         # Remove 0x prefix if present
         clean_raw_hex = raw_hex.replace("0x", "").upper()
diff --git a/tests/unit/test_packet_capture_utc_payload_time.py b/tests/unit/test_packet_capture_utc_payload_time.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9460574
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/unit/test_packet_capture_utc_payload_time.py
@@ -0,0 +1,91 @@
+"""Published packet payloads carry UTC time fields, not host-local ones (issue #278)."""
+
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+import configparser
+import logging
+import os
+import time
+import types
+from datetime import datetime, timezone
+from unittest.mock import MagicMock
+
+import pytest
+
+from modules.service_plugins.packet_capture_service import PacketCaptureService
+
+LOGGER = logging.getLogger("test-packet-capture-utc-payload-time")
+DEVICE_KEY = "cd" * 32
+
+# A fixed UTC+5 zone: no DST, so the offset is nonzero no matter when CI runs.
+NON_UTC_TZ = "Etc/GMT-5"
+
+
+def build_service():
+    """Build a minimal PacketCaptureService without running __init__."""
+    config = configparser.ConfigParser()
+    config["Bot"] = {"bot_name": "BotNode"}
+    config["PacketCapture"] = {}
+
+    bot = MagicMock()
+    bot.config = config
+    bot.meshcore = types.SimpleNamespace(
+        self_info={"name": "DeviceNode", "public_key": DEVICE_KEY}
+    )
+
+    service = object.__new__(PacketCaptureService)
+    service.bot = bot
+    service.logger = LOGGER
+    service.debug = False
+    service.decode_payloads = False
+    service.channel_key_store = None
+    return service
+
+
+@pytest.fixture
+def non_utc_timezone():
+    """Run the test body under a non-UTC local zone, then restore the original."""
+    original = os.environ.get("TZ")
+    os.environ["TZ"] = NON_UTC_TZ
+    time.tzset()
+    try:
+        yield
+    finally:
+        if original is None:
+            os.environ.pop("TZ", None)
+        else:
+            os.environ["TZ"] = original
+        time.tzset()
+
+
+def format_packet():
+    packet_info = {
+        "route_type": "FLOOD",
+        "payload_type": "ADVERT",
+        "payload_type_value": 4,
+        "payload_bytes": 1,
+        "path_len": 0,
+        "path_byte_length": 0,
+        "path": [],
+        "packet_hash": "0123456789ABCDEF",
+        "has_transport_codes": False,
+    }
+    return build_service()._format_packet_data("00AA", packet_info, {"snr": 5.0, "rssi": -90})
+
+
+@pytest.mark.skipif(not hasattr(time, "tzset"), reason="tzset is POSIX-only")
+def test_packet_time_and_date_are_utc(non_utc_timezone):
+    result = format_packet()
+
+    moment = datetime.fromisoformat(result["timestamp"].replace("Z", "+00:00"))
+    assert moment.utcoffset().total_seconds() == 0
+
+    # Pre-fix these were datetime.now() renderings, so under UTC+5 they ran five
+    # hours ahead of the "timestamp" they sit beside in the same payload.
+    assert result["time"] == moment.strftime("%H:%M:%S")
+    assert result["date"] == moment.strftime("%d/%m/%Y")
+
+
+def test_utc_iso_timestamp_renders_a_supplied_instant():
+    moment = datetime(2026, 3, 1, 4, 5, 6, tzinfo=timezone.utc)
+    assert PacketCaptureService._utc_iso_timestamp(moment) == "2026-03-01T04:05:06Z"