Fake billing: 12 firms face Rs 50.19 crore GST penalty

Jalandhar, September 19, 2023

Having arrested four persons in January this year in an alleged fake billing case, the Punjab GST Department has now adjudicated 12 firms and imposed a penalty of Rs 50.19 crore against them.

The department has also started proceedings for recovery of the penalty amount of these firms under Section 122 of the GST Act. The department officials have said that since the punishment under fraud is covered under Section 132 of the GST Act, these would be proceeded against separately through court.

The companies facing penalty include Dashmesh Trading for Rs 13.14 crore, PB Interior Decor for Rs 7.44 crore, PK Trading Rs 3.45 crore, Guru Har Rai Trading for Rs 5.24 crore, Gagan Trading for Rs 6.37 crore, North Vogue for Rs 2.23 crore, Shiv Shakti Enterprises Rs 3.20 crore, Brij Trading Company Rs 3.54 crore, Sri Balaji Trading Company Rs 1.69 crore, Krish Enterprises for Rs 1.71 crore, Pankaj Scrap Company Rs 1.35 crore, Sri Radhey Krishan Enterprises for Rs 0.83 crore.

The officials said that the owners of the companies generated fake bills but did not supply any goods and thus caused losses to the state exchequer. “The amount of penalty imposed on them is the same as the tax amount. The recovery of penalty will be made in cash and not adjusted through ITC,” they said.

The officials said, “So far we have penalised only 12 firms. In the next round, all those companies in whose names bills were generated would also be penalised. The process would continue like a chain and the last company in the billing cycle too will have to face the punishment.”

The officials said that a gold jeweller of Lal Bazaar too had been penalised in the case as most of the 12 firms facing penalisation had made transactions into his bank account. The action was initiated on the orders of Additional Commissioner Jeevan Jot Kaur, division in charge Shaleen Ahluwalia, and ACST of Jalandhar-2 Rajmandeep Kaur.

[The Tribune]