Online token tax for vehicles to check losses

LAHORE

Excise and Taxation (E&T) Punjab has started up-gradation of token tax system by facilitating the vehicle owners to pay their token tax online from anywhere in the Punjab, The News has learnt. 

The new up-gradation system has been launched to stop revenue loss and fake token tax submission via Pakistan post offices.

Earlier, motorists used fake slips of post offices and there was no proper system to verify the token tax slips, being paid in post offices. When motorists come to pay token tax in excise offices instead of post offices they use fake slips of post offices and submit their token tax fraudulently by showing previous fake token slips.

Excise department had been facing huge revenue loss due to fake token slips and the absence of verification process. 

In the new system, vehicle owners will be provided a pro forma and legal affidavit which would be later verified by excise officials in coordination with post offices across the Punjab. 

Sources in E&T Punjab told The News that during the tenure of former DG Excise Naseem Sadiq the department had initiated a project of computerisation of all the post offices token tax data which was later on stopped due to some unknown reasons and the data which was computerised had also been removed from the database.  

Every year, the Excise and Taxation Punjab was facing huge monetary loss due to fake token slips of post offices but after the starting of the up-gradation system this revenue leakage will be stopped permanently.

However, it’s a little hassle for the vehicle owners as it will take around two to three days during verification process with post offices but later on they will have online  access across the Punjab and they will be able to pay their token tax anywhere in the province.

Earlier, one can only pay the token tax in the post office concerned of his city but after the up-gradation and verification done by the Excise and Taxation Punjab there will be online option everywhere to pay token tax. 

Talking to The News, E&T Director General Akram Ashraf Gondal said  up-gradation process will facilitate the motorists in all manners and they would be no more bound to pay the token tax only in their post offices concerned. Besides, the loss of revenue in shape of fake token tax slips of post office will be stopped permanently, Akram Ashraf added. 

He said that in the next phase our plan is to establish a joint computerisation database system which would be synchronised with all the post offices of Punjab and then excise officers will verify the post tax online and motorists will not have to wait for two days for verification.