BANGALORE: District in-charge Minister Ramalinga Reddy on Thursday said BBMP’s bank accounts, which have been frozen by the Income Tax (I-T) Department, will be reopened soon as the issue is expected to be sorted out in a day or two.
“If the accounts are not defreezed, more than 19,000 BBMP staff, including the commissioner, will not get their salaries next month,” an official told Express.
The I-T Department recently froze all 40 BBMP bank accounts as the civic agency has not deposited the Tax Deducted at Source (TDS) amount, which it deducts from the salary of its staff.
The amount is estimated to be around Rs 31.5 crore.
“The I-T Department has asked BBMP to pay at least half the amount for now and that comes to around Rs 15 crore,” Reddy said.
The minister expressed confidence that BBMP would be able to raise this sum as it gets money every day through various means like tax collection. If the civic body does not have sufficient funds to release now, it can use its overdraft protection, Reddy said.
BBMP Commissioner M Lakshminarayana was not available for comment.