The Hindu              07.10.2013

GVMC to introduce online tax payment system

Staff Reporter

Deputy Commissioner says it is likely to materialise by December

Fulfilling a long-pending demand, the GVMC will soon introduce online payment system for payment of property and water taxes.

Disclosing this at a meeting organised by Visakhapatnam Tax-Payers’ Association at Akkayyapalem on Sunday, Deputy Commissioner (Revenue) R. Somannarayana said IDBI Bank would take up the transactions and charge Rs.15 as service charge and for those with net banking Rs.5.

Besides, to make payment of taxes easy, branches of 18 banks would accept them and it could materialise by December.

Underground drainage

Replying to specific issues raised by the association, Mr. Somannarayana admitted that the underground drainage work had got delayed inordinately.

He said while some of the issues like commercial complexes, hospitals and prayer houses coming up in residential areas were intractable, some like allowing property tax concession to senior citizens were a matter of policy.

All the citizens should make use of the “Call Centre” facility on the toll-free phone which the Commissioner was monitoring for an hour everyday in the morning.

The GVMC had won an award for the grievance redress, he said.

Association president K. Bhavani Shankarudu said the association was formed to make collective representation on civic issues and worked on the issue of property tax hike.

As the city was growing it might not be possible to extend its services and redress civic grievances equally well and the association would strive to take them to the notice of officials.

Road repairs

Secretary O. Srinivas urged that repairs be taken up to all the roads that had developed craters and potholes, drains be covered , urinals be set up at all important junctions and road work between Kanakadurga temple and Sangam Office at Akkayyapalem be expedited.

Kanakamahalakshmi Service Society president Y. Venugopal and members of VTPA Vijayan, Haraprasada Rao and Kameswara Sarma were among those who spoke.

The Hindu              07.10.2013

Soon, e-payment for government services

G. Anand

Bills can be paid through at least 70 banks

Presumably by October end, netizens in Kerala can remit their electricity and water bills and even traffic fines and university fee from the relative comfort of their homes or offices, thanks to a State government-sponsored electronic payment gateway that authorises credit/debit card payments for a whole range of government services.

Principal Secretary, Information Technology and Industries, K.S. Sreenivas told The Hindu that the e-payment gateway is currently integrated with the State government’s e-district governance programme and can be accessed only through Akshaya centres.

However, this is set to change with the State readying to launch an online web portal this month to enable citizens to access its e-commerce application service through computers, tablets, and smart phones with Internet connectivity.

Till recently, only citizens with credit/debit cards issued by two public sector banks could avail themselves of the e-payment facility.

The government has accorded a wider choice to citizens by authorising e-payments, including online banking transactions, through at least 70 private and public sector banks for its various services.

The service will be extended to all government departments, including the Motor Vehicle, Revenue, and Commercial Taxes departments.

Director, Kerala State Information Technology Mission, P. Balakiran, said the State, in association with the National Data Base Management Ltd, a Union government entity, has created the e-payment service platform, which would empower citizens to make all types of payments to the government, including various licence fee, taxes, and utility bill payments, without having to queue up in front of crowded counters at government offices.

Internet usage and computer literacy in Kerala were growing at an exponential rate and in a matter of a few years, they would become universal in the State.

He said that in one stroke, the State has also bypassed the need for its citizens to rely on “costly” private electronic payment gateways in availing themselves of public services that are transactional in nature by ensuring that its e-payment service charges are the lowest in the global e-commerce market.

Simultaneously, in a bid to enhance transparency and efficiency in all forms of government procurement, the State government has ordered all its departments to go in for e-tendering.

The Industries Department, for one, has ordered that for any procurement above Rs.1 lakh, the tender should be published online and only online bids in the prescribed digital format be entertained.

Mr. Sreenivas said the compliance level to the order has been very high, thereby negating, to a great extent, allegations of nepotism and corruption.