Delhi govt awards residents for taking 'proper bills'

New Delhi, Mar 11: In a bid to encourage residents of the national capital for taking proper bills for their purchases, Delhi government on Friday awarded 54 customers under the newly-launched "Bill Banvao, Inaam Pao" scheme.

The scheme was launched on January 18 by the Department of Trade and Taxes with the aim to nab the traders who issue bills on the cancelled registration number (TIN) and evade tax.

The winners were decided by a lottery and were given cash prizes five times of their bill amount for the month of February with the maximum cash prize of Rs 50,000 per person. A total of 8,339 bills were uploaded during the month of February.

5,335 entries were held valid, almost triple the number of 1,679 valid entries last month, the officials claimed.

To be considered for the award, the purchaser has to upload the bill on the department's website or via their app "Bill Banvao Inaam Pao". The taxable value of the purchased goods should at least be Rs 100 and the bill has to be uploaded within seven days of purchase.

"The jump in the number of entries is remarkable. We expect more people to take part in the competition as the word spreads and more people know about the scheme," said Sanjay Sharma, one of the three persons officiating the lottery draw.

"Through this scheme, we are trying to achieve two things: to encourage people to ask for bill during their purchase and to make it mandatory for the dealers to make the bill. So we are targeting both the customers and the shopkeepers through this scheme," he added.

The officers will visit the shopkeepers on whose name the bills were issued and uploaded to authenticate the validity of the bills after which the winners will be given their cash prizes.

PTI