To curb tax evasion on sensitive goods, UP seeks access to NHAI data to monitor e-way bills
The integration of NHAI’s extensive surveillance network will further strengthen enforcement efforts.
In a bid to curb tax evasion and enhance compliance, the Uttar Pradesh government has written to the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) seeking access to its toll plaza data to monitor e-way bills in real time.
The government has already installed cameras at the gates of pan-masala and iron and steel factories to capture images of vehicles transporting goods. The integration of NHAI’s extensive surveillance network will further strengthen enforcement efforts.
“We have written to the NHAI requesting access to its data on vehicles monitored by cameras installed at toll plazas on highways. The intent is to check whether vehicles transporting goods, especially sensitive goods like pan-masala and iron and steel, carry proper e-way bills, which we can monitor through our e-way bill portal,” principal secretary-state tax M Devraj told HT.
The NHAI operates a vast network of cameras at toll plazas and highways equipped with Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) technology. These cameras can scan vehicle registration numbers and cross-check them with the e-way bill database to verify whether the movement of goods is legally documented.
E-way bills are a mandatory electronic document required for the transportation of goods worth ₹50,000 or more under the Goods and Services Tax (GST) framework. E-way bills are proposed to be linked to vehicle registration numbers, enabling seamless verification at toll plazas.
With this initiative, the state government aims to tighten enforcement, reduce tax leakages, and minimize manual checks on highways. The move is expected to significantly enhance compliance and transparency in goods transportation across Uttar Pradesh.
Devraj said the possibility was also being explored to have some close coordination between the control rooms set by the state tax cepartment at zonal and the state headquarters and the e-way bill portal managed nationally in Karnataka for better results.
He said ANPR cameras had already been installed outside the gates of factories from where pan-masala and iron steel are loaded in trucks for transportation to watch whether the truck with a consignment had a valid e-way bill.
“There are three ways for tax evasion. The first is if the vehicle has no e-way bill at all; second when it has a recycled e-way bill and third when the vehicle does have a proper e-way bill but carries goods of more value than mentioned in the bill,” Devraj explained. “As soon as our control room officials detect a suspicious vehicle through the cameras integrated with the control room, they send an alert requesting the nearest officials to intercept it,” he added.
The access to NHAI data will further help authorities to monitor and check tax evasion by dealers/transporters.