TLI Staff
New Delhi: The next time you buy a product from a store in your neighbourhood or a shopping mall, insist for invoice or pakka bill as this may instantly make you crorepati.
The all-powerful GST Council would on Saturday consider a proposal to launch online lottery system for rewarding both sellers and customers for digital transactions with the prize money ranging from Rs 5,000 to Rs 1 crore.
The scheme which will be managed by National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) would choose the winners through a random selection using the digital transaction IDs. The draw of lots would be carried out live to ensure system is not manipulated in choosing the winners. Officers of GST department and NPCI would be barred from being part of the scheme.
In order to wean the suppliers and consumers away from cash transactions, the scheme would incentivise B2C (business-to-consumer) transactions done through RuPay cards or Unified Payments Interface (UPI).
Credit card spends would not be covered under the scheme, Top Lead India (TLI) has learnt from reliable sources.
As per the proposal, all B2C transactions for Rs 100 to Rs 10,000 would be eligible for the scheme. Every month, one bumper prize of Rs 1 crore would be given to the lucky consumers and suppliers in the ratio of 3:1 during a public function.
As many as 100 prizes of Rs 1 lakh each would be given to the lucky consumers and the suppliers. Under the scheme, there would be 5,000 prizes of Rs 5,000 each. The expenditure on account of the price money would be met out of Consumer Welfare Fund of the Centre and states. The scheme is likely to cost the government about Rs 50 crore with both Centre and states sharing the cost equally.
State-controlled NPCI will inform the winners of the draw via SMS on their mobile phones and also the email address provided in the bank accounts. The prize money will be credited directly in bank account of the winners by the digital payment firm.
The scheme is aimed at promoting Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s digital drive, expanding taxpayer base and bolster revenue. The proposed scheme would also help make informal economy part of the formal economy.
The revenue department has found that huge tax evasion happens at retail level using cash to buy goods. As there is no track or trail of cash transactions, both business and consumers share the tax evaded and as a result government loses its share of revenue.
This is the reason the scheme to incentivise digital transactions is being brought. The GST Council chaired by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is expected to consider and approve the proposal.
The meeting scheduled on March 14 is the 39th of the GST Council.