201 GoI officers engaged in GST implementation; told to use social media, video-conferences for feedback

AS MANY AS 201 officers currently working as joint secretaries or additional secretaries in various Central government ministries have been appointed as nodal officers to monitor the implementation of Goods and Services Tax (GST). Each officer is allotted one district where he or she needs to monitor the GST implementation touching upon areas such as registration of traders, display of tax rates in shops, awareness camps and publicity, GSTN functioning, proper billing in shops et al. They are also asked to activate and utilize channels including social media, call centers, web portals, video-conferences etc. to…

obtain feedback from consumer associations, individual consumers, business associations, district administration etc. on a daily basis, according to an office memorandum issued by DoPT on Tuesday. The OM further said, the nodal officers need to monitor the availability of essential commodities and retail price trends. “Specific instances of price rise have to be reported in real time to consumer affairs and revenue department”. Further, they need to monitor calibration of billing software by traders, with special focus on accounting and billing systems of PSUs. Also, they are asked to report sector specific tax rate related issues to the revenue department. “The officers may kindly be directed to contact Department of Revenue for information and further details,” it further said. 

All the districts in the country have been grouped into 166 clusters, aligning them with the administrative divisions of Central revenue department. So, the designated officers will be able to cover the all districts of the country and get daily feedback.