Rs500m taxes, duties collected through ePay Punjab app

LAHORE: The Punjab government collected Rs 500 million in the first 100 days after the launch of ePay Punjab – an electronic platform to collect the government taxes and duties in hassle free mode.

The government launched the ePay system on October 4 last year in collaborative efforts between Finance Department and Punjab Information Technology Board to provide general public a stress-free and efficient method of paying all taxes and payments to the government using ICT tools without going through the existing cumbersome process.

The app is the first-ever government payment aggregator in Punjab for the public to the government (P2G) and business to government (B2G) payments.

In a review meeting of the ePay here on Wednesday, it was informed that 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. 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 programme and following Tax/Non-Tax receipts like Online Admission for Colleges/Schools Fee, Driving License Fee, e-Challan, Character Certificate, Domicile, Fitness Certificate (Commercial Vehicles) and Agri Income Tax.

The ePay Punjab application allows the citizens of Punjab generate a seventeen (17) digit unique PSID number that is accepted on all respective channels of all banks in Pakistan. The banking channels which the citizens can utilise for tax payments are Internet / Mobile Banking, ATM and Over the Counter (OTC) / Branch Visits. At the backend ePay Punjab is integrated with State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) and 1-link for interconnectivity across entire banking network in Pakistan.

The initiative has proved to be a game-changer in the local FinTech industry by playing a pivotal role in increasing tax the revenue collection of the province and improving financial inclusion. In its first phase, 13 taxes/levies and 5 departments are made a part of the app and portal. Excise and Taxation, Board of Revenue (BOR), Punjab Land Records Authority (PLRA), Punjab Revenue Authority (PRA), Industries, Transport are the departments liaised with the app whereas 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.