The North News
Chandigarh, April 6
The Punjab government on Monday said it had posted its strongest action yet against tax evasion, recovering more than ₹1,100 crore in penalties during the 2025–26 financial year as it stepped up its campaign against fake billing and fraud.
Sharing the figures, Finance and Taxation Minister Harpal Singh Cheema said the department imposed penalties worth ₹1,383.11 crore over the year, out of which ₹1,137.85 crore has already been recovered.
He said the numbers reflect a much tougher, more focused enforcement strategy, with the government increasingly relying on intelligence inputs and targeted action rather than routine checks alone.
Cheema said on-ground inspections were the biggest source of recoveries. These inspections led to penalties of ₹1,215.95 crore, with ₹972.15 crore already collected. Roadside checking operations added another ₹165.71 crore.
The scale of the jump becomes clearer when compared with the previous financial year. In 2024–25, inspection-based enforcement resulted in penalties of ₹147.28 crore, but the actual recovery was just ₹41.53 crore. Road checks that year had brought in ₹157.14 crore.
Officials say the latest figures show a clear shift — not just in identifying tax evasion, but in actually recovering the money.
The minister also highlighted the department’s criminal action against alleged tax fraud networks. During the year, eight FIRs were registered and 15 people were arrested.
Two of the most significant cases involved seven accused and exposed suspicious transactions worth ₹385 crore. In those cases, the department estimated tax evasion of ₹69.57 crore, alleging that several firms generated invoices without supplying any goods.
More cases were registered in Bathinda, Mandi Gobindgarh, Ludhiana and Chandigarh as the department widened its action against fake billing and illegal transport of goods.
In one notable case, a Ludhiana-based businessman was arrested for allegedly passing fraudulent Input Tax Credit of more than ₹9 crore.
Cheema said investigators also uncovered several large networks suspected of operating bogus transactions. These included fake billing worth ₹900 crore in gold trade in Ludhiana, ₹226 crore in questionable coal transactions spread across Mohali, Kharar and Kotkapura, and another ₹423 crore in bogus billing networks linked to Ludhiana and Mandi Gobindgarh.
The department is also looking into a separate alleged fraud of ₹200 crore linked to the “Pet Pooja App”, which officials say points to the increasingly complex methods being used to evade tax.
As part of a wider verification drive, the department flagged 1,579 dealers for scrutiny. After checks, 922 were found to be non-existent, and their registrations were cancelled with the support of the central authorities.
The government also said it tightened its grip on the misuse of Input Tax Credit. According to the minister, ₹244.82 crore was blocked and ₹206.64 crore was reversed, protecting a total of ₹451.46 crore in state funds. Another ₹19.08 crore was recovered directly in cash.
Enforcement in the field was also intensified. During a special drive in Ludhiana and Mandi Gobindgarh, officials detained 141 vehicles in a single day — the highest number in one such operation, the government said.
Checks were also increased at railway stations and other transit points, especially in sectors considered vulnerable to evasion, including iron and steel, cement, auto parts, tobacco and metals.
Cheema credited the State Intelligence and Preventive Unit, the Tax Intelligence Unit and the “Bill Liao Inaam Pao” scheme for helping strengthen the department’s reach. He said technology such as data analytics, live e-way bill tracking, and digital enforcement portals had also played a key role.
The minister said the Bhagwant Mann government would continue with its zero-tolerance approach, maintaining that tough enforcement was necessary to break fake billing networks, support honest businesses and protect Punjab’s revenue.
