SAMBALPUR: In a bid to promote cashless transactions, the Sambalpur Municipal Corporation (SMC) has decided to introduce online payment system for collection of holding tax within a month.
Informing this, Deputy Commissioner of SMC Sudhansu Kumar Bhoi said the software for online holding tax payment system has already been developed by a Bhubaneswar-based IT company, Luminous Infoways. The National Informatics Centre (NIC) is conducting the security audit of the software. The online system will be incorporated on the existing website of the civic body after completion of the security audit, he informed.
Bhoi said the online holding tax payment will be introduced within a month. There will be an option on the civic body’s website to pay holding tax online and the denizens will be able to pay holding tax sitting in their houses, he added.
Once the system is introduced, the users will have to log on to the SMC website by submitting basic information.
Then the taxpayer will select holding tax payment window and enter the holding number or name of the house owner to know details of the tax. The users can pay the tax through debit card or credit card. Besides, the online facility will reduce burden on the civic staff engaged in the collection.
Holding tax is a major source of revenue for any civic body and the revenue generated from the tax is utilised in extending facilities like roads, drains, street light and sanitation to the residents.
At present, around 21,000 households of the city are paying holding tax and the civic body has already initiated steps to collect the tax from newly constructed houses and business establishments soon. Holding tax to the tune of ` one crore is pending against different commercial establishments and households in the city, sources added.