BENGALURU: Despite the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike Commissioner Manjunath Prasad arguing that property owners are to be blamed for entering incorrect property details that leads to
excess payment, Bengalureans are not willing to buy the argument.
They say that even when correct data is entered, the faulty software computes incorrectly. “There is no box to declare the present occupancy status of the property,” said a disgruntled Malleswaram citizen, GS Prabhu, retired Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (PCCF). Owners are not foolish to show excess area and pay more tax, several residents argued.
“The problem is in the software and not due to the incorrect information given by property owners as stated by BBMP Commissioner in your newspaper today,” Prabhu replied in an e-mail interview.
Manjunath Prasad said that property tax collection began on April 4 and the revised software was introduced on June 16. Only those who had paid tax between April 4 and June 15 using the earlier formula had paid in excess.
Prasad said that differences were shown in the receipts and challans generated this year. However, Express had highlighted stories over the past five days of residents who said the differences did not appear on challans or receipts.
Many citizens wrote to Express during its five-part series on property tax payment. “I am a widow of an ex-serviceman. Can I claim rebate for the part I stay in? Other part of the house has been given on rent. Can I have only my portion of the house exempted?” asked a reader.
“Every year tax payment is a nightmare with new problems added to those carried forward from previous periods. I had issues accessing the website and relevant records to enable payment followed by struggle to generate receipt,” wrote another resident to Express.