Within the first five months, EPay Punjab has collected over Rs. 1 billion revenue from multiple levies in the province. EPay Punjab is the first-ever government payment aggregator for citizen facilitation and ease of business.
This was disclosed in a progress review meeting of Punjab Information Technology Board presided by Chairman PITB Azfar Manzoor. Director-General IT Operations Faisal Yousaf and other senior officials participated in the meeting.
The system was launched on 4th October last year as a collaborative endeavor between Punjab Information Technology Board and Finance Department of Punjab which provides the 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 meeting 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.
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 program and also add Tax/Non-Tax receipts like Online Admission for Colleges/Schools Fee, Driving License Fee, e-Challan, Character Certificate, Domicile, Fitness Certificate (Commercial Vehicles) and Agriculture Income Tax.
The ePay Punjab App lets the citizens generate a seventeen (17) digit unique PSID number that is accepted by all banks in Pakistan. Banking channels can be utilized by the citizens for tax payments are internet/mobile banking, ATM and Over the Counter (OTC)/Branch Visits. At the back end, ePay Punjab is integrated with the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) and 1-link for interconnectivity across the entire banking network in Pakistan.
In its first phase, 13 taxes/levies of 5 departments are made part of the system. Excise & Taxation, Board of Revenue (BOR), Punjab Revenue Authority (PRA), Industries and Transport are the departments connected with the system, where 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 Punjab.
The initiative has proven to be a game-changer in the local fintech industry by playing a pivotal role in increasing tax revenue collection of the province and improving financial inclusion.
