LAHORE: The Punjab finance department’s online payment solution app, ePay Punjab, is being linked to the federal government’s instant payments system Raast to easily transfer provincial collections to the State Bank of Pakistan.

Revenue transfer through Raast would play an important role in the promotion of the digital economy with transparency in the collection system, said Punjab Finance Minister Sardar Mohsin Khan Leghari during a briefing on ePay Punjab on Tuesday.

Finance Secretary Wasif Khurshid, Special Secretary Finance, Additional Secretary, and officials from the finance department and PITB were also present on this occasion.

He further said that in the near future, payments through Visa, MasterCard and UnionPay International will also be possible on ePay Punjab and more accounts would also be added to the app. He believed that ePay Punjab was a revolutionary initiative of the provincial government to eliminate corruption in the tax system. “Elimination of malpractices in the tax system will ensure an increase in the resources of the province,” he noted.

According to him, if people's trust in government institutions was restored, tax collections will also increase. Institutions should also ensure the delivery of services to improve collections.

The Project Director of ePay Punjab informed the meeting that the finance department has taken approval from the Punjab Cabinet for collaboration of ePay Punjab with Raast and a MoU would be signed with the State Bank for linking ePay Punjab with Raast.

“Online payments of more than 22 receipts of 10 government departments through ePay Punjab were started on October 4, 2019, for transparency in the tax system under the finance department and ease of doing business. “So far, 23 million transactions and more than 128 million receipts have been done through the said application,” he added. He also noted that the application's annual success graph is showing more improvement than before.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022