UT coming up with mobile app to check GST evasion

Ramkrishan Upadhyay
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, January 2

To identify traders not issuing bills, the Excise and Taxation Department, UT, will soon launch a mobile app to help customers lodge complaints. Besides, the department has also decided to launch a toll-free helpline for such complaints.

Sources said the decisions were taken at a high-level meeting held by the UT Administration recently to discuss steps to be taken to increase revenue.

Sources said though the department had been able to increase its GST collection by 11.20 per cent till December last, officials feel there were a large number of traders who were still not issuing bills to their customers and evading tax.

The department collected Rs 1,060 crore GST till December last year while the collection was Rs 961 crore till December 2018.

RK Chaudhray, Assistant Excise and Taxation Commissioner, confirmed that the department was considering the launch of the mobile app to make it easy for customers to lodge complaint. Residents will have to give the details of shops not issuing bills or evading tax. The details will reach the phone of the inspector of the area concerned, who will immediately inspect the shops.

Chaudhary said the department had focused on few trades like hardware, sanitary ware, electrical items, grocery and furniture, where tax evasion was more. He said the department recently started a major drive to identify dealers not issuing bills. The department has imposed penalty of Rs 1.40 lakh on seven dealers so far.

Ajay Jagga, a GST expert, said non-issuance of bills was a major source of revenue leakage, causing loss to the government. It is mandatory under Section 31 of the CGST Act to issue invoice containing the name, address, GST number, a consecutive serial number, description/quantity of goods or services, total value of supply rate of tax etc. A violation invites a penalty up to Rs 25,000.