CBDT launches online 'nivaran' to resolve I-T grievances

CBDT has launched the ambitious 'e-nivaran' facility for the online redressal of the taxpayers' grievances related to the refunds, ITRs and PAN among the others as part of its initiative to reduce the instances of harassment of the public when it comes to complaints related to the Income Tax department.

An exclusive 'e-nivaran' i.e., electronic resolution link has recently been activated on the e-filing portal of the department where the taxpayers can register their complaints through their personal computer systems and will receive a special PIN number on their registered mobile and email, as their unique number to keep a track of the issue.

It started work on this front after Prime Minister Narendra Modi had himself flagged the issue of unresolved taxpayer grievances during his review of the department and had asked the authorities to make sure that the steps should be urgently taken in this regard so that the honest taxpayers do not suffer for the others.

The Income Tax Department is one of the 20 government organisations' against whom the maximum grievances are received on the Centre's online public grievances resolution portal which is known as the Centralised Public Grievance Redress and Monitoring System (CPGRAMS).

As part of these measures, the CBDT has also made some changes in the Income Tax department's establishment recently and nominated officials to specifically look into the issues of grievances even as the post of the Member (Revenue) in the Board has been re-designated as Member. A senior official said the 'e-nivaran' module will work on the lines of the internet-based Income Tax Returns (ITRs) filing system and the taxpayers can register all their complaints related to the delay in the refunds, filing of e-returns, Tax Deducted at Source (TDS), PAN issues, and those referring to their Assessing Officer (AO).

People who do not have a Permanent Account Number (PAN) but is having some kind of problem in connection with their Income Tax case can also use the e-nivaran facility. Documents can be uploaded in a PDF format and clubbed as a ZIP file as stated by an official.

A special space has also been provided for 'grievance description' along with furnishing of the details like mention of the Assessment Year in case of individual or the Financial Year in case of deductor.

Address, postal PIN code, mobile number and email are important fields to be filled up.

The official said the new system will make sure that the e-filing, that the taxpayer gets his grievance redressed by just using an internet empowered computer and does not require them to travel to a tax office. The 'e-nivaran' has been now connected to all the electronic databases and the modern business application software platform of the department to ensure quick resolution.

The 'e-nivaran' form is also expected to be provided at the Aaykar Sampark Kendras (ASK), the tax facilitation centre which is located in over 300 cities, in a physical form which will later fed into the system by the tax officials.

Once the grievance is registered, the system will also issue an acknowledgment number which can be instanced by the taxpayer for all his future communications with the taxman and also to track the progress of the complaint.

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