ePay Punjab, the first-ever government payment aggregator for citizen facilitation and ease of business, has collected over PKR 1 Billion in tax revenue from multiple levies across Punjab since its launch.
The information was revealed in a progress review meeting of Punjab Information Technology Board on Thursday. Chairman PITB Azfar Manzoor, Director General IT Operations Faisal Yousaf and other senior officials of the board were present in the meeting.
Easing collections: Punjab to launch ePay mobile app
The Punjab government launched ePay, a mobile application on 4th October last year as a collaborative endeavour between Finance Department of Punjab and Punjab Information Technology Board.
The system provides general public with a stress-free and efficient method of paying all taxes and payments to the government through contemporary banking channels; without going through the existing cumbersome process.
Moreover, multiple new payment channels like Debit / Credit Card, Mobile Wallets, TELCO Agent Networks and Direct Debit from Account are being added to further increase the payment options available to the citizens and businesses.
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Additionally, it is also planned to include Government to Public (G2P) and Government to Business (G2B) payment models in future to broaden the horizon of the program and also add Tax/Non-Tax receipts like Online Admission for Colleges/Schools Fee, Driving License Fee, e-Challan, Character Certificate, Domicile, Fitness Certificate (Commercial Vehicles) and Agriculture Income Tax.
The initiative has proved to be a game-changer in the local FinTech industry by playing a pivotal role in increasing tax revenue collection of the province and improving financial inclusion. In its first phase, 13 taxes/levies of 5 departments are made part of the system.
Excise & Taxation, Board of Revenue (BOR), Punjab Revenue Authority (PRA), Industries and Transport are the departments liaised with the system, where citizens can pay Token Tax, Motor Vehicle Registration, Transfer of Motor Vehicle, Property Tax, Professional Tax, Cotton fee, e-Stamping, Mutation fee, Fard fee, Sales Tax on Services, Punjab Infrastructural Development CESS, Business Registration fee and Route permit through e-pay Punjab.
