The Maharashtra government has launched net banking facility to collect sales tax, road tax and penalties.

The facility is called Government Receipt Accounting System or e-challan payment. Revenue minister Balasaheb Thorat said with the launch of the facility, the taxpayer would not be required to visit the bank to make such payments.

Thorat, however, made it clear that it is not mandatory to pay taxes online.

The government's initiative is a part of its policy to make the tax collection system more transparent by reducing the interface between the taxpayers and government employees.

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Of the 100 per cent tax collection, sales tax and VAT accounts for 60 per cent, stamp and registration 20 per cent, and motor and vehicle tax accounting 8 to 10 per cent.

"The new system is of great benefit to taxpayers, as they are not required to personally visit the bank to make the payments," Thorat said.

"Payments can be made electronically from any place where internet facility is available. A single simplified challan has to be filled up instead of the complicated three-copy challan.

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"Once you have the challan copy with the government reference number and you have filled in your Tax ID and TAN correctly, you are assured that the payment will be properly accounted for in your name."

A senior official said the taxpayer immediately gets the GRN and Bank challan identification number online, which is necessary to file returns.

Taxpayers can use the facility if they have a bank account with net-banking facility in any of the banks registered on the site, and have obtained the user id for online money transactions from the bank.

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Mohan Gurnani, president of Federation of Maharashtra, welcomed the state government's move.

"However, it also has to cover all small banks or some arrangement has to be made so that even traders and people, especially from the rural areas, are able to avail of the facility.

"In the absence of such a facility the government's move is meaningless," Gurnani said.

He recalled that while making VAT payments in public sector banks, banks insisted that the taxpayer have an account in the bank concerned, and this made the process cumbersome.