*ਵਿੱਤ ਮੰਤਰੀ ਹਰਪਾਲ ਸਿੰਘ ਚੀਮਾ ਨੇ ਬਕਾਇਆਦਾਰ ਡੀਲਰਾਂ ਨੂੰ ਸਖ਼ਤ ਕਾਰਵਾਈ ਤੋਂ ਪਹਿਲਾਂ ਓ.ਟੀ.ਐੱਸ. ਸਕੀਮ ਦਾ ਲਾਭ ਲੈਣ ਦੀ ਕੀਤੀ ਅਪੀਲ*
One Time Settlement Scheme Extended Until July 31 to Offer a Final Window of Relief: Harpal Singh Cheema
Chandigarh, 19th June 2026 ; Punjab Finance, Planning, and Excise & Taxation Minister Advocate Harpal Singh Cheema on Friday announced that the State Government has significantly intensified its recovery drive against tax defaulters by officially commencing the public auction of properties belonging to chronic VAT and GST evaders.He said, “In a decisive move to reclaim long-pending state revenue, the Department of Excise and Taxation successfully executed three major property auctions and recovered substantial sums from businesses and individuals who deliberately failed to pay their tax liabilities despite receiving repeated opportunities and official legal notices.”
Excise and Taxation Minister Harpal Singh Cheema elaborated on the initial successes of the enforcement drive. He said authorities successfully conducted the first major property auction in Mohali against the defaulter firm M/s Sumit Engineering, selling the property for ₹13.22 crore on June 19, 2026. He added that officials also carried out another successful auction in Shahkot, Jalandhar, involving the property of M/s MR Rice Mills, which fetched ₹1.11 crore.
The Minister stated, “Successful bidders have already deposited ₹3.58 crore directly into the government treasury today, and authorities will legally recover and deposit the remaining balance within the coming week as per established rules.”
Coercive Action Implemented Following Non-Compliance with the One Time Settlement Scheme
According to Advocate Cheema, these initial successful auctions conducted across Mohali and Jalandhar clearly demonstrate the state’s absolute resolve to enforce tax compliance without fear or favor. The Finance Minister emphasised that these stringent recovery proceedings, which include the physical attachment and auction of properties, are a direct continuation of the Punjab Government’s earlier policy announcements. He clearly stated that these aggressive actions specifically target chronic tax defaulters who stubbornly refuse to avail themselves of the massive relief benefits offered under the state’s One Time Settlement (OTS) Scheme.
While maintaining a strict stance on tax evasion, Finance Minister Cheema said, ” The Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann led Punjab Government’s primary objective is always the recovery of legitimate public money rather than purely punitive action.”
Scheme Extended Until July 31 to Offer a Final Window of Relief
To facilitate voluntary compliance and give business owners a fair opportunity to resolve historical disputes, the Finance Minister announced that the Punjab Government has extended the One Time Settlement (OTS) Scheme up to July 31, 2026. He said that this scheme provides a transparent and highly favorable mechanism for taxpayers with pending VAT liabilities to settle their outstanding dues quickly, thereby completely avoiding litigation, ongoing disputes, and coercive state action.
Issuing a definitive warning to remaining evaders, the Excise and Taxation Minister Harpal Singh Cheema declared that the era of ignoring official tax demands and assuming that government dues will remain unrecovered has officially come to an end. The Excise and Taxation Department has already identified numerous properties belonging to habitual, chronic defaulters, and has scheduled nearly 20 additional property auctions across various districts in the coming weeks and months, he revealed.
Cheema Warns Strictly, Schedules Nearly 20 More Property Auctions
He said, “The Excise and Taxation Department firmly upholds its commitment to protecting public revenue and ensures that a small group of wilful defaulters does not place thousands of honest, law-abiding taxpayers across Punjab at a financial or competitive disadvantage by avoiding their legal duties.”
The Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema warned that taxpayers who continue to disregard their legal obligations will face immediate and severe consequences, as the department actively pursues all available legal remedies, including the attachment of bank accounts, seizure of assets, and the public auction of both movable and immovable properties to secure every single rupee owed to the State of Punjab.
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