Filing of e-declaration at check-posts for each consignment from outside the State in the new format will be made compulsory only after next Sunday, officials of Commercial Taxes Department have said.
The decision to postpone the implementation for another one week was taken in the background of the troubles its partial execution had created at Walayar check-post, the commercial gateway of Kerala, in the last four days. The date fixed earlier for making it mandatory was July 15 and now it has been changed to July 20.
Commercial Taxes secretary K. Ajith Kumar, who visited Walayar on Sunday morning in the wake of traffic chaos created by the new system, held discussions with department officials, truck operators, representatives of trade and commercial bodies and general public about the challenges its implementation would invoke.
Most of those who consulted the secretary said the traffic snarl witnessed at Walayar was because of hurried implementation of the e-declaration facility without creating proper awareness among traders, truck owners, and drivers.
District Collector K. Ramachandran also wanted one more week to create proper awareness before implementing the new mode of declaration.
Talking to media persons later, Mr. Ajith Kumar said there would be renewed stress on creating awareness about e-declaration, especially outside the State. Newspaper advertisements would be released in four south Indian languages to sensitise those who were involved in transporting consignments. Small leaflets would be prepared in different languages for truck drivers who frequent the check-posts.
When asked about the delay in getting clearance at Walayar check-post, he said the number of clearance counters would rise from eight to 13 soon. Eight more employees would be deployed for early clearance of consignments. He said e-declaration would help end corruption and leakage reported widely in connection with consignment handling. Meanwhile, smooth traffic was fully restored at Walayar from the morning itself.
