In a significant move which is bound to tap undeclared Value Added Tax on goods purchased from outside Delhi, border surveillance mechanism on eight entry points in the Capital, which started from June 1, has enhanced revenue generation of the VAT Department.
High capacity CCTV cameras integrated with a software are capturing the photo of number plates of all the truck entering the Capital, allowing tax officers to keep an effective tab on the vehicles.
The CCTV cameras first capture the visuals of the number plate of the vehicles, after which vehicles are categorised into goods and non-goods category. The server attached to the CCTV cameras then promptly delivers the entire details of the truck owner, including his residential address, TIN no and office details.
The Tax Department, through its software, first checks from its database whether the goods vehicle has filled up Delhi Saral-2 (DS-2) form, which gives details about the type of goods which are entering the city and details of the dealer who is sending them and the person to whom these are to be delivered. If the Department is not able to track these details, the vehicle number is then fed into the NIC database to get details about the vehicle owner for further investigations.
At least 6,500 trucks loaded with goods and making entry into the Capital without having VAT slips have so far been captured by the CCTV cameras. So far, all the 4,000 truck owners have been served notice to pay a penalty of Rs50,000 each. This penalty has been levied till June 18 and the procedure is on to capture the violators.
VAT Commissioner SS Yadav said as a pilot project, the Government has installed CCTV cameras at eight entry points — Kondli, Rajokari, Tikri, NH-10, Kalindi Kunj, Shahdara, Ghazipur and Ghazipur Old. The Department had proposed to put up these cameras at nine points, but it was unable to get requisite permission for installing the facility at Faridabad entry point. In all, there are 126 entry points in the city.
Insiders said about 350 goods vehicles enter the city every day without filling up DS-2 forms. The integration of the system is such that all officers, including VAT Commissioner SS Yadav, keep an effective track on entry of such vehicles into the city.
Asked what action is taken against those who enter the city without submitting DS-2 forms, a senior VAT officer said notices are immediately sent to such defaulters. The defaulters have to pay Rs50,000 penalty and 20 per cent of the total value of the goods loaded on their trucks.
A notice to one such defaulter said, “Whereas, as per the Government’s notification No F7 (433) / Policy-II/VAT/2012/PF/70712 dated 10-09-2015, all the registered dealers of Delhi bringing goods into Delhi, are required to fill the details of invoices and goods receipts (GR Notes) online, in Form DS-2 before the physical entry of goods into Delhi.”
Drivers of the goods vehicles are bound to show the hard-copy of the DS-2 form to tax officials at check-posts. The notice further said, “It was detected that your vehicle No HR 38T6774 entered Dali at Kalindi Kunj border on June 1 at 3.25 pm without filling of form DS-2 by the respective recipient dealer as required vide the aforesaid notification… You are again reminded that the non-submission of the above said information will make you liable for penalty under Section 86 (14) of DVAT ACT 2004.