THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: It is a proud moment for the Kerala GST department. The Union government’s soon-to-be-launched ‘Mera Bill, Mera Adhikar’, an app-based reward scheme for uploading GST invoices, is modelled on the department’s ‘Lucky Bill’ mobile app and platform.
“The Centre followed our scheme in technology, architecture and concept. They consulted with our officers and the Kerala University of Digital Sciences which developed the app,” said a source.
Launched last August, the Lucky Bill app has 16 lakh bill (invoice) uploads from 1.25 lakh users. Attractive prizes are given to winners selected via lucky draws. The app’s primary aim is to encourage people to demand bills for every purchase of goods and services. While mandatory electronic invoicing has helped in checking tax evasion in business-to-business (B2B) transactions, a sizeable chunk of business-to-customer (B2C) transactions are going unreported. The reward scheme helped increase invoice generation in the B2C sector, it is learnt.
The app’s software would read details on the bill like GSTIN, date of issue and purchase amount through a machine-learning algorithm. All bills uploaded on the app will be stored so that it can be used for verification during the inspection or audit of an establishment at any time.
Bills uploaded on the app range from small-value goods to gold and construction material purchases worth lakhs of rupees. Hotel bills top the list followed by those from supermarkets and textile shops. The maximum number of uploads were from Thiruvananthapuram, Ernakulam and Kollam districts.
REWARD RAIN
Cash prizes and gift packs are given to winners selected through lucky draws. Every month, a cash prize of Rs 10 lakh is given to one winner, Rs 2 lakh to five winners and Rs 1 lakh to five winners. Twenty-five winners of the weekly draw become eligible for family accommodation at the KTDC property, while 50 winners of the daily draw are entitled to gift packs worth Rs 1,000 from the Kudumbashree or Vanasree eco-shop.