In a major step towards promoting transparency in tax compliance and encouraging citizen participation, Punjab’s Finance, Planning, Excise and Taxation Minister Advocate Harpal Singh Cheema announced significant enhancements to the state’s popular ‘Bill Lao Inaam Pao’ scheme — an initiative launched under the leadership of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann.
Under the revised plan, a quarterly bumper draw will now be introduced to further encourage public participation, offering substantial cash rewards. Each quarter, participants will have the chance to win a first prize of ₹1,00,000, a second prize of ₹50,000, and a third prize of ₹25,000, Cheema said in an official press release.
To make tax compliance more efficient, a dedicated bill-uploading and reward mechanism will soon be launched through the “Mera Bill” app for bills related to the service sector, including restaurants, salons, and boutiques.
Multilingual App And Chatbot To Assist Citizens
Cheema further announced that a real-time chatbot will be introduced to answer consumer queries, and the app will now be available in Punjabi, Hindi, and English to ensure wider accessibility.
Highlighting the success of the scheme, the Finance Minister revealed that between April and August 2025, citizens uploaded 30,769 bills, leading to 1,263 winners who collectively received ₹78.13 lakh in rewards. To ensure transparency, all uploaded bills are strictly verified by the taxation department. Since the launch of the scheme, penalties worth ₹9.07 crore have been imposed for irregularities, with ₹7.31 crore already recovered.
Promoting Responsible Consumerism
Launched by CM Bhagwant Singh Mann in September 2023, the ‘Bill Lao Inaam Pao’ scheme and ‘Mera Bill’ app aim to promote responsible consumerism and strengthen tax compliance culture in Punjab. The scheme excludes bills related to petroleum products such as crude oil, petrol, diesel, aviation turbine fuel, natural gas, alcohol, inter-state purchases, and business-to-business transactions.
Ensuring fairness, only bills from the previous month’s purchases are eligible for the draw. Cheema reiterated the state government’s commitment to transparent, innovative, and citizen-centric governance, urging residents to actively participate in the initiative to build a more accountable Punjab.
