The Delhi government on Monday launched a fleet of mobile squads that will help spread awareness and address doubts about the Goods and Services Tax (GST) to traders in markets across the city.
Six GST help vans were flagged off by Deputy Chief Minister and Finance Minister Manish Sisodia.
He said that the vans would reach out to traders to address their issues regarding the new tax regime, which was rolled out on July 1.
Officials from the Delhi government’s Department of Trade and Taxes will be in the vans in order to answer questions from the traders.
Connaught Place, Janpath, Ajmeri Gate, Chandni Chowk, Inderlok, Shastri Nagar, Tilak Nagar, Dwarka, Najafgarh, Mangolpuri and Nangloi will be covered by the vans.
The vans will be stocked with pamphlets and booklets about how traders can register on the GST portal and other helpful tips.
Apart from the vans, the government has also set up a Suvidha Kendra at the headquarters of the Tax Department as well as helpdesks at some markets.
Will help with GST portal
“There is confusion among small traders about GST. So far, there hasn’t been direct communication with them. Now, they have had almost a month of experience, so our officers will visit the traders, make announcements and ask about their problems. It will be a two-way communication,” said Mr. Sisodia, after the launch.
So far, about 3.2 lakh traders have signed up on the GST portal, according to government officials.
While GST was implemented from July 1, the traders are still clearing their VAT payments for the month of June. They will have till August 18 to pay GST through the new portal.