ETO abolishes tout mafia in three months

Shakeel Anjum

Islamabad

A report compiled by the Deputy Commission Office, appreciates the performance of the Excise & Taxation Office, saying that the office of ETO performed well showing big achievements during the current year.An effective and comprehensive crackdown against tout mafia was carried out for the cleansing of the department, the report said and added that and the mafia completely abolished in three months. The administration introduced Biometric Verification System to counter fake documentation for registration of vehicles. “The Biometric Verification System has been introduced by the department to avoid registration or transfer of vehicle against made up or fabricated documents. The litigation has become almost zero. “A facilitation centre has been established for ease of general public visiting E&T Department for registration or transfer,” said the report. C rackdown against tout mafia was initiated and the agents involved in plundering public, was abolished, said in an efficiency report. The department issues computerized Challan Forms for registration or transfer of vehicles to counter touting system. The system of E&TD is integrated with ATL list of FBR and the fees can be calculated on the basis of status of applicant. The payment made against the given Challan can also be reconciled in real time. The said systemhas axed the involvement of agent mafia. Recently, massive crackdown has been carried out on agent mafia and 12 were arrested and also sent to jail. Their entry has been restricted within premises of Excise & Taxation Department which are offering services to visiting public for filling of relevant forms. Online forms for registration/ transfer are also available on website. Online collection of Token Tax System has introduced to ease the customers. It may be added that 1.4 million vehicles have been registered so far and 75 % vehicles has to pay lifetime token tax and as such, on daily basis 7000-8000 applicants are visiting Excise & Taxation Department for payment of token tax. In order to make the payment of token tax online, a case has been forwarded to Ministry of Interior and Finance, for approval of draft agreement executed between E&T Department and National Bank of Pakistan. It’s now pending with Ministry of Interior and Finance. As and when the proposal is approved, the vehicle owners canmake the payment of their token tax of vehicle through any NBP or through E-banking. In the meanwhile, several postal authorities in Islamabad have been provided the Online Interface for collection of token tax. The payment made at those postal authorities can be reconciled in real times. The said system is another step towards, transparency and minimum human interaction, the report indicated. Online collection of Token Tax System has introduced to ease the customers. It may be added that 1.4 million vehicles have been registered so far and 75 % vehicles has to pay lifetime token tax and as such, on daily basis 7000-8000 applicants are visiting Excise & Taxation Department for payment of token tax. In order to make the payment of token tax online, a case has been forwarded to Ministry of Interior and Finance, for approval of draft agreement executed between E&T Department and National Bank of Pakistan. It’s now pending with Ministry of Interior and Finance. As and when the proposal is approved, the vehicle owners can make the payment of their token tax of vehicle through any NBP or through E-banking. In the meanwhile, several postal authorities in Islamabad have been provided the Online Interface for collection of token tax. The payment made at those postal authorities can be reconciled in real times. The said system is another step towards, transparency and minimum human interaction. The department amended different laws to ensure efficacy of the reforms. The laws including Token Tax, Professional Tax and Bed Tax have been amended which were enforced in ICT since 1981. These amendments have increased the revenue of the department up to 3 times. The comparison of revenue receipt is enclosed. This has been done through the current resources of the departmentwithout any additional funds and human resources. SMS Service has introduced for direct liaison with the customers. At the time of submission of application for registration, a receipt is issued to the applicant that indicates the date of delivery. The Book delivery system has been streamlined. In order to keep posted the applicant; SMS service has been launched through which the owner of the vehicle is informed that his Smart Card is ready for collection. This has also been advertised on social media. Online Appointment System for Registration of Vehicle has initiated. On the directions of Chief Commissioner Islamabad E&T Department has introduced online appointment system for vehicle registration to avoid public inconvenience. This system would enable the public to have online appointment for vehicle registration instead of waiting in long queues. Online form is available on the official website of Islamabad excise which can be filled online and can be posted. The system would give specific time for the registration of the vehicle and the applicant could visit the office at that time to get his work done within no time. Special counters have been established for online appointment system. S pecial counters have also been established for persons with disabilities to entertain them with one window operation. They would be provided with wheel chairs as well for easy mobility in the office. The Excise & Taxation Department, ICT was assigned targets for last three years. First target was 4.225 Billion rupees for the fiscal year 2017-18, second for the year 2018-19, the target was 4.2 to 4.5 and for the year 2019-20 has been fixed from 6.6 Billion while 2 Billion has been achieved till date in 2019. Deputy Commissioner Islamabad, Hamza Shafqaat when contacted for his comments said, “In Excise Department, our reforms are two pronged, first are government oriented reforms to increase collection in a transparent manner. For this we have introduced thumb verification which has increased taxes. Secondly 2 decades old rates were revised. While, second types of reforms are public oriented. To make tax submission easy we are about to sign an agreement with NBP which will make token tax submission onlinewhichwill reduce presence of public in excise office. Severe action has been taken against touts and now it’s all clear. Information centre has been established. Vehicle information is available online. Submission of forms has also been made available online.”