The Digital Bangladesh Day Award of this year was given to the ‘Online Land Development Tax Payment’ system. Since its inauguration, about Tk 300 crore has been deposited into the government treasury instantly through the automated challan system through the online land development tax system, informed Public Relations Officer of Ministry of Land Sayed Md. Abdullah Al Nahyan.
At present, through this system, the landowners are paying their land development taxes online by calling Land Ministry Hotline 16122 from anywhere in the world without coming to the land office or by completing the registration with the NID number at home through the Land Service Portal ‘land.gov.bd’ or ‘Land Development Tax’ mobile app, he aded.
Nahyan said, After the inauguration, about 4 crores 10 lakhs holding data has been converted from manual to digital so far. About, 30 lakhs online Dakhila (receipt) have been provided. About, Taka 300 crores have instantly been deposited in the government exchequer through an automated invoice system Online Land Development Tax Payment system.
Land Secretary Md Mustafizur Rahman PAA and his team won the ‘Digital Bangladesh Award 2022’ at the national level in the government general category for the successful implementation of the initiative of the Online Land Development Tax Payment system. The ‘Online Land Development Tax Payment’ system initiative was taken under the direction of Land Minister Saifuzzaman Chowdhury.
Other members of the team are Additional Secretary of the Ministry of Land Pradip Kumar Das, Additional Secretary of the Finance Division Nazma Mobarek, Director of Bangladesh Computer Council Tarique M Barkatullah, Joint Secretary of the Ministry of Land Dr. Md. Jahid Hossain Panir, PAA.
They received the ‘Digital Bangladesh Award-2022’ and certificate from ICT State Minister Zunaid Ahmed Palak in the presence of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at the inaugural and award distribution ceremony organized on the occasion of Digital Bangladesh Day, 2022 at Bangabandhu International Conference Center on Monday.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the online land development (LD) tax payment system on September 8, 2021, to reduce corruption in the land office and increase the transparency of the land office, including lessening the suffering and harassment of the common people. Notably, the Ministry of Land’s online land development tax payment system has also won the prestigious WSIS Prize 2022 this year, awarded by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).
The landowners and the public had to go hard on the Union Land Office to pay the land development taxes before the establishment of the ‘Online Land Development Tax Payment’ system. It would have caused financial loss to the public and taken up a lot of time as well. In most cases, they were also denied the receiving of land development taxes on various pretexts, rather, they were harassed. At that time, a study found that about 45% of the people of Bangladesh were victims of corruption or harassment in the land office in this way. As a result, instead of going to the land office, they used to seek the help of the tout.
As a result, the landowner suffered financial losses and was also often deceived. Many people did not show interest in paying land development taxes on time due to these various reasons. It was also disrupting the revenue of the government. Above all, the public was having a terrible impression of the land office regarding the payment of land development tax. In such a reality, the Ministry of Land introduced the online land development taxes payment system as part of Prime Minister’s Digital Bangladesh initiative to reduce corruption in the land office and increase the transparency of the land office, including the suffering and harassment of the common people.