The state has seen an almost 25% drop in applications for GST (goods and service tax) numbers, and officials say this is a good thing. Coming barely seven months after the launch of 12 centralized “GST seva kendras” in Gujarat, officials say the fall indicates better weeding out of bogus applications.
Envisioned along the lines of passport seva kendras, the GST seva kendras are meant to streamline the registration process and curb tax evasion. Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Nov 7, 2023, inaugurated one each in Vapi, Gandhinagar, Ahmedabad, Surat, Vadodara, Godhra, Mehsana, Palanpur, Rajkot, Bhavnagar, Junagadh and Gandhidham.
“Earlier, there were several cases in which unscrupulous people attempted to evade tax by using bogus documents to register for a GST number. This has now come down by 24.99% year-on-year,” one official said.
The seva kendras offer a one-stop solution to both the department and taxpayers. Once someone applies for a GST number at a particular centre, they also have to register their biometrics there. The application is then scrutinized on the basis of more than 40 criteria, and the applicant is called in for in-person verification before being allocated a GST number, the official explained.
As all operations related to biometrics, both for state and Central GST registration, go through these 12 centres, operations have become quicker, more efficient and more transparent, this official added.
The pilot initiative’s success has not gone unnoticed. Members of the GST Council as well as officials from states such as Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh have visited Gujarat’s centres before the system is rolled out across the country.