Deccan Chronicle 01.12.2009

Bengalureans pay tax, BBMP says pay again

Nov. 30: Bengalureans are being overtaxed and they are hopping mad about it. Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) recently sent around 50,000 notices to citizens for not having paid property tax.

Most of those who received the notices had, however, already paid their taxes either at BangaloreOne centres or BBMP offices. Furious at the ‘harassment’ by the civic agency and over being labelled ‘defaulters’, some citizens say they will stop paying taxes if they continue to be pestered by BBMP. “I paid my property tax in April but I’ve been served a notice by BBMP,” said Gopalswamy, a senior citizen who lives on 12th Cross, Padmanabhanagar.

M. Jagannath, also a resident of Padmanabhanagar, has a similar story. “I paid my taxes in advance and even received a 5 per cent discount,” he said. “I have never been a defaulter, but I received a notice for not paying the tax.”

Admitting that his department had technical problems, deputy commissioner (revenue) D.L. Chandrashekar said the government’s I-T advisors and the National Informatics Centre had been informed about the glitches that led to the payments not being registered. “We have issued notifications asking people to ignore the notices,” Mr Chandrashekar said.

But Citizen’s Action Forum president said authorities cannot harass citizens in this way, noting that BBMP has collected over Rs 700 crore in property tax this year.