The UT administration is set to roll out the e-payment facility for local sales tax (VAT) as well as utility bills within
a month.

Society for Promotion of IT in Chandigarh (SPIC) is already in the advanced stage for preparing the module and technical back up system for rolling out the e-payment system. All the private as well as national banks are being engaged so that maximum compliance of e-payment can be achieved, it is learnt.

Welcoming the move, Charanjeev Singh, president of Chandigarh Beopar Mandal said that currently traders face major hassle in paying sales tax, facility of which is only available at few branches of State Bank of India.

“Online payment of VAT was our long pending demand and we are happy that all the banks are being enrolled to start the facility, he said.
In consumer services, online payment of electricity and water bills will be first to be introduced followed by e-payment facility for road tax that may take three to four months.
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At present, people pay their utility bills at e-sampark centres.

The announcement of e-payment of utility bills were made last month when Adviser to Administrator Vijay Dev inaugurated the payment facility of the utility bills through debit/credit cards.

SPIC’s centre head Anil Prashar said that the link for e-payment both for VAT and utility bills will be available
at upcoming portal besides newly developed website of the UT excise and taxation department and likely to be rolled out with in one month.

All banks are being engaged for the purpose, he said Excise and Taxation department collects more then Rs 1,300 crore of VAT from 65 categories of classified goods items.

A senior official of the excise department said that e-payment facility would avoid the hassles of standing in long queues, filling challans in four copies and visiting a collecting back to pay the tax.

Online facility is available round the clock. The challan will be filled online by the taxpayer and there will be immediate acknowledgment of payment in form of cyber receipt.
“For department, it will also be easier to track the VAT compliance, he said.

Other facilities of excise, taxation dept

*Online generation of statutory forms that play important role in getting tax concession in inter-state transactions. Nearly 2 lakh C-forms are issued every year by the department to the traders.

* Online e-refund of VAT.