The 17000 registered GST traders of Chandigarh city have performed brilliantly in the overall percentage of GSTR-3B return filing. Occupying the next spot to national topper Punjab, the Union Territories ED department has to be equally lauded if not less. GSTR-3B is a monthly self-declaration filed by a dealer registered under GST. GST was implemented in July last year. Since then there have been reports raising concern about the glitches in GSTN network. However, albeit all these Chandigarh traders have managed to outshine major cities when it comes to returning filing. Chandigarh traders were followed by their neighbouring Delhi traders who were ranked third in the list.
The UT administrations out of the box approach must be given equal credit for this. From the GST awareness Seva-raths covering almost 60 locations to the distribution of pamphlets carrying bullet points and other details related to GST, the administration was always on its toes and the results are for all to see. The UT excise and taxation department had also conducted 20 workshops creating awareness and addressing issues upfront.
As per official figures released by Finance Secretary, Government of India, for the period of July to November the filing percentage for the entire nation varied between 96.86% to 79.02 %. For the same period, list topper Punjab’s figures were recorded between 97.55% to 84.37 %.
The table below compares the national average for GSTR-3B return filing with that of Chandigarh traders.
| Month | National Average Tax Return Filing |
Only Chandigarh Traders |
|---|---|---|
| July | 96.86% | 97.55% |
| August | 90.92% | 96.84 % |
| September | 85.27% | 92.99 % |
| October | 77.18% | 85.05% |
| November | 69.93%. | 79.02% |
Above we see that month over month the traders in Chandigarh have outperformed the national average. As per expert Ajay Jagga, the comparatively lesser number of registered traders in Chandigarh is a major reason for this. He further added that, of this small pool of traders, a majority are well educated and have hands-on experience in technology.
