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Paying water bills to get easier

Tuesday, 10 August 2010 07:17 administrator
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The Deccan Chronicle  10.08.2010

Paying water bills to get easier

Aug. 9: The BWSSB is all set to start 26 more kiosks in the city to enable consumers pay their water bills 24/7 and also increase revenue collection. The new kiosks will be set up at a cost of Rs 2.9 crore. While some of these kiosks will be set up in core areas of the city, the others will come up in newly added areas of BBMP where water will be supplied once the Cauvery fourth stage, phase two project is complete, said BWSSB executive engineer, Mr Shivaraju.

The kiosks will be set up in Yelahanka, Jakkur, NEI Layout, Pipeline Road near Ayyappa Temple, Dod Bommasandra, Kodlu village, Kammagondanahalli, Talkaveri Layout, Isro Layout, Vijaya Bank Layout, Kothanur Dinne, RBI Layout, NGF Layout, Nagarbhavi 3rd block, Ideal Homes, Yegganahalli, Laggere, Peenya second stage, HSR Layout, Bellandur village, HBR Layout, OMBR Layout, BEML Layout, AECF Layout, Bhuvaneswarinagar and Sadanandanagar, Mr Shivaraj added.

The BWSSB has 6,10,000 metered connections and 74 payment kiosks which help it raise Rs 38 crore in water bills every month. The Board’s billing efficiency is cent percent while the bill collection is almost 98 percent. Consumers in the city owe the Board Rs 37 crore in water bill arrears. There were 3,51,161 water connections in 2002 when a meter reader carrying a bill book had to spend 6-7 minutes per consumer. The consumers were then forced to pay bills at designated counters in their respective sub divisions, which functioned for only four hours a day. The ledger clerks prepared only 50-75 bills per day and the ledger was circulated among 15-20 clerks for updation.

Despite this strenuous effort, error free bills were a dream while securing data for policy making was next to impossible then, an official said.

The introduction of the Computerised revenue management System in 2003 has enabled people to get error free bills and pay them at their convenience in 8 to 10 seconds. The billing process is now transparent and can be audited whenever necessary, he said. According to the official, the introduction of E-governance in 2003, has increased the revenue of BWSSB from Rs 180 crore per annum in 2002 to Rs 455 crore in 2009.

Last Updated on Tuesday, 10 August 2010 07:22
 

50 per cent property tax exemption for soldiers

Monday, 09 August 2010 05:01 administrator
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The Hindu       09.08.2010

50 per cent property tax exemption for soldiers

Staff Reporter

BANGALORE: Those in the armed forces will get 50 per cent exemption on property tax, announced State Home Minister V.S. Acharya here on Sunday.

He was speaking at a programme, “Smarananjali”, organised jointly by Doordarshan, Bangalore Development Authority (BDA), Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) and Department of Sainik Welfare and Resettlement, to honour those in the armed forces who were martyred or injured in action. Mr. Acharya also said that another district in the State can have a war memorial similar to the one coming up in the city.

During the occasion, families of martyrs were honoured while soldiers who were wounded were felicitated. Mahesh Joshi, Director of Doordarshan Kendra, Bangalore, said the BBMP had contributed Rs. 50,000 to each family, while the Department of Sainik Welfare had given Rs. 5,000.

Paramveer Chakra award winner Subedar Major and Honorary Captain Bana Singh were given Rs. 1 lakh.

Governor H.R. Bhardwaj, who attended the programme, lauded the State's social welfare schemes.

However, families of martyrs were not so satisfied. Bharati, wife of Late Naik Gollalappa Wasen said the schemes were not enough.

Last Updated on Monday, 09 August 2010 05:02
 

State plans to levy special cess

Friday, 06 August 2010 06:37 administrator
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The Deccan Chronicle 06.08.2010

State plans to levy special cess

Tags: GHMC, special cess, under construction buildings
Aug 5: The state government is planning to levy a special cess on buildings under construction to compensate revenue loss caused by evasion of tax by sand and quarry miners. The industries (mines) department has proposed this as part of mobilising additional revenue, a mandate given by the Chief Minister, Mr K. Rosaiah, to all key departments.

It is estimated that the levy would increase the cost of a 1,000 sq feet apartment by Rs 5,000. The department suggested that the cess should be collected from the end user of material such as sand and stones. It also wants to link the sanction of building plans to the payment of cess to ensure effective realisation of the amount.

“We will ask the municipal authorities to make payment of cess one of the mandatory conditions to release the building plans,” said a senior official of the mines department. “Builders also agreed to the single point collection.” Sources, however, said the department and builders are yet to come to a final agreement on the special cess.

“Builders want us to cap the cess at Rs 2 per sq ft but we want it to be somewhere around Rs 5 to Rs 6 per sq ft,” added the official. There is also disagreement on the mode of payment. While the department wanted one-time payment, builders want it to be in instalments stretching to two or three years.

“We are already burdened with impact fee, development charges and fee for changing land use,” said Mr C. Sekhar Reddy, president of Builders Forum. “The civic authorities and mines department should allow payment in instalments.” Though there was also a suggestion from the builders to collect the cess at the time of registration of the property, the officials turned it down.

Last Updated on Friday, 06 August 2010 06:41
 
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