KOCHI: After months of delay, Kochi Corporation launched its new website on Monday after scrapping the old one. Along with that, an online service to pay property tax has also been made available to the public through its official website, www.kochicorporation.lsgkerala.gov.in.
“We achieved a milestone by finishing the data entry of 89,166 buildings that completed construction after 2013, within four months. The data entry of 2.5 lakh remaining buildings will commence this week, “said Mayor M Anilkumar. “Ownership and building age certificates have also been made available for the buildings constructed after 2013 and can be downloaded from the website.
From April 2022, payment of professional tax will be made online,” he added. The payment gateway includes over 50 banks and the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) system. Birth and death certificates from September 7, 2021, are available through the website. Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) was the agency contracted to implement the e-governance system, but the corporation parted ways with it last year.
Being criticised for its failure to implement e-governance and being left behind in the digital race, the corporation will ensure that its website has all the facilities a citizen would require. The mayor said that it would take at least six months to complete the data entry of the buildings constructed before 2013.
Officials will have to check the register and verify the details before putting it into the system. “Taxpayers can submit a request at the zonal office concerned to make the payment of building constructed before 2013 via online. Once the request is submitted, the corporation will make arrangements within seven days, and they can avail of the online service,” said the mayor.