Kathmandu, July 17 : The vehicle and consignment tracking system (VCTS) has been brought into operation. Finance Minister Dr Yuba Raj Khatiwada launched the VCTS amidst a programme here today. The government has launched the web-based ‘vehicle and consignment tracking system’ to keep track of the whereabouts of the cargo carrying containers and trucks. On the occasion,
Finance Minister said that the VCTS is a mechanism to render the trade and business transactions formalized, legal and transparent, besides promoting good governance. He expressed the conviction that the VCTS will further support in promotion of the formal economy in the context of half of the economy remaining in the informal. Secretary at the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers, Bishnu Prasad Lamsal, highlighted the advantages of the system in promoting and facilitating trade and commerce.
Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) president Bhawani Rana, Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI) president Shatish Mor and Nepal Chamber of Commerce vice-president Kamalesh Kumar Agrawal, while lauding the implementation of VCTS, urged the government to enforce it on a trial basis for some time so as to analyze its overall impact. Department’s director general Dirgha Raj Mainali explained about the VCTS and claimed that it was in the interest of both the government and the business community.
The newly created digital system is interlinked with the ASYCUDA at the Department of Customs (DoC) and affiliated with the computerised system of the Department of Inland Revenue (IRD). With the implementation of the web-based vehicle tracking system and connection with the customs, inland revenue and revenue investigation departments, every business activity, from importers to the consumers, can be easily tracked which will make the tax-evasion more difficult.
The new computerised system is being developed by the Department of Revenue Investigation (DRI). It will facilitate the transport entrepreneurs, importers and businesses with the real-time update of the vehicular movement about their cargo and consignment. The DRI said that the tracking system will create greater transparency in import business, check the smuggling of goods and discourage the use of fake bill of the Value Added Tax (VAT).
As the government has already launched the Electronic Cargo Tracking System (ECTS) in container trucks carrying goods from Kolkata to Birgunj, it will have information of the cargo and consignments from Kolkata port to the godown of the businesspersons.
