With Punjab Government’s crackdown against tax defaulters aimed at eradicating corruption, the state Transport Department has collected over Rs 1,008 crore in less than five months — nearly Rs 332 crore more than the previous year.

Informing this, Punjab Transport Minister Laljit Singh Bhullar on Tuesday said that out of total Rs 1008.41 crore collected from various taxes for the period between April 1, 2022, and August 29, 2022, by the State Transport Commissioner office, a major share of Rs 871.36 crore has been received from taxes and fees, etc, while Rs 75.10 crore of the Social Security Cess, Rs 18.45 crore of compounding fees, and Rs 43.50 crore collected from the Punjab State Transport Society (PSTS).

The Minister said that the Department had collected Rs 676.68 crore during the corresponding period of the previous year, which has now registered an increase of around Rs 331.73 crore with the constructive and concerted efforts of Mann Government.

Earlier, the State Government had recovered Rs 38.93 crore under the amnesty scheme for the period of May 6 to August 5, 2022, and this amount of arrears had been pending at the end of defaulters for quite some time, said the Minister.

He said that recently, all 11 posts of Motor Vehicle Inspectors (MVIs) have been filled in the State for the speedy disposal of work related to issuance of fitness certificates of old vehicles and passing, which will ensure the delivery of the services to the people quicker besides increasing the revenue of the government.