Surat railway station turns breeding ground for GST scammers

By TBT Web Desk On Oct 14, 2022

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Surat : The Surat Railway Station has become a breeding ground for GST scammers, resulting in massive losses to the government’s coffers. When the GST department intercepted a parcel containing tobacco from the railway station, they discovered the heinous link. While the real value of the tobacco was Rs 1 crore, the value mentioned in the fake bill was only Rs 48,000.

Authorities at the Surat railway station’s parcel office are authorised to check the GST and other details of parcels worth more than Rs 50,000. However, parcels worth less than Rs 50,000 are cleared for their journey in the city. Seeing this as a golden opportunity, the scammers would issue fake bills for goods worth less than Rs 50,000 in collaboration with Surat buyers in order to avoid GST.

After the GST investigation, a penalty of 10 lakhs has been imposed on tobacco parcel that came from Uttar Pradesh to Surat.

Officials said railways can check only if there is an e-way bill of more than Rs 50,000, taking advantage of which the scammers keep the bill below Rs 50,000 regardless of the amount of goods. Naturally, these bills are bogus.

Experts believe that the scammers’ techniques at Surat railway station should be investigated at all railway stations across the country. Just as the customs department has a team at the airport, every railway station in the country should have a GST team.

According to GST officials, approximately six cases worth Rs 5 crore have been busted from the Surat railway station in the last six months. Due to the stringent checks at highway checkpoints, scammers are routing their goods through railways.

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