Chandigarh: Punjab Finance, Planning, Excise and Taxation Minister Advocate Harpal Singh Cheema on Saturday announced major upgrades to the popular ‘Bill Liyao Inaam Pao’ scheme, introducing quarterly bumper draws to encourage citizen participation and transparency in tax compliance.
Under the new scheme, participants will have the chance to win Rs 1,00,000 as the First Prize, Rs 50,000 as the Second Prize, and Rs 25,000 as the Third Prize each quarter. The Taxation Department will also facilitate a dedicated upload option and prize distribution mechanism for bills from the service sector, including restaurants, salons, and boutiques, via the “Mera Bill” App.
Cheema further highlighted that a real-time Chatbot will assist users with queries, and the app will now support Punjabi alongside Hindi and English, ensuring wider accessibility.
Sharing the scheme’s impact, the minister stated that from April to August 2025, 30,769 bills were uploaded, creating 1,263 winners who collectively received Rs 78,13,715. The Taxation Department has imposed penalties worth Rs 9.07 crore and recovered Rs 7.31 crore from discrepancies in submitted bills.
Launched in September 2023 by Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann, the ‘Bill Liyao Inaam Pao’ scheme and the Mera Bill app aim to promote responsible consumerism and tax compliance. The scheme excludes bills related to petroleum products, liquor, out-of-state purchases, and B2B transactions. Only bills from the preceding month are eligible to ensure fairness.
Finance Minister Cheema urged citizens to actively participate in the scheme, reinforcing the state government’s commitment to inclusive and transparent governance.
