The Hindu 06.04.2010
Corpn. plans door-to-door tax collection
K.V. Prasad
| ‘We will launch this system this financial year' |
Photo: K. Ananthan 
Innovative Initiative:Paying taxes from home by credit or debit cards may become a reality in the city. —
COIMBATORE: The Coimbatore Corporation is planning door-to-door collection of Property Tax and drinking water consumption charges with the twin objective of being more tax payer-friendly and also to step up revenue.
Equipped with hand-held billing machines, tax collectors of the Corporation will collect the payment and give a receipt at the door step of property owners. People can swipe their credit or debit cards to pay the taxes.
Discussions on
The Corporation is discussing with a private bank and an information technology company on creating a payment gateway and related requirements.
“We will launch this system this financial year,” says Corporation Commissioner Anshul Mishra.
The Corporation wants to make the tax payment system least cumbersome for the people.
In spite of the Corporation opening a number of tax payment centres and also working out payment through nationalised and private banks, people still seem to find it difficult to reach these centres. Elderly people have problems in travelling and many of those employed are not able to obtain leave or permission to pay taxes, the Commissioner explains.
The door-to-door collection will be quick and smooth. This can be a permanent and effective method. The opening of extra centres and their functioning on holidays also can be only temporary measures to step up collection towards the close of a financial year, the Commissioner points out.
Component
The Corporation has to demonstrate total efficiency in tax collection as the fiscal reforms component of the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renwal Mission (JNNURM) mandate it.
According to the mission, efficiency in tax collection points at the ability of a civic body to generate revenue for funding infrastructure development projects or to repay loans obtained for these.
The Commissioner said the Corporation wanted the public to pay taxes promptly and thereby help the civic body fund development in the city. The Corporation will, in turn, enable the people to do that by introducing the door-to-door collection.
