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

New Delhi: CBDT has launched the ambitious 'e-nivaran' facility for online redressal of taxpayers' grievances related to refunds, ITRs and PAN among others as part of its initiative to reduce instances of harassment of the public when it comes to complaints related to the I-T department.

An exclusive 'e-nivaran' (electronic resolution) link has recently been activated on the e-filing portal of the department--https://incometaxindiaefiling.Gov.In--where taxpayers can register their complaints through their personal computer systems and receive a special PIN number on their registered mobile and email, as their unique number to keep 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 authorities to ensure that steps should be urgently taken in this regard so that honest tax paying people do not suffer.

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

As part of these measures, CBDT has also made some changes in I-T department's establishment recently and nominated officials to specifically look into the issues of grievances even as the post of Member (Revenue) in the Board has been re-designated as MemberThe 'e-nivaran' module, a senior official said, will work on the lines of the internet-based Income Tax Returns (ITRs) filing system and taxpayers can register all complaints related to delay in refunds, filing of e-returns, Tax Deducted at Source (TDS), PAN issues, and those pertaining to their Assessing Officer (AO).

"People who do not have a Permanent Account Number (PAN) but have some problem in connection with their I-T case can also use the e-nivaran facility. Documents can be uploaded in a PDF format and clubbed as a ZIP file," the official said.

A special space has also been provided for 'grievance description' along with furnishing of 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 mandatory fields to be filled up.

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

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

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