VIJAYAWADA: Rapani Ankaraju, a resident of Kondapalli town, received the biggest shock in his life on Saturday when the municipality employees served him notices to pay Rs 77,900 as house tax for his small asbestos house. However, realising that it was a mistake happened while updating the new billing system, Kondapalli municipal commissioner P Sreedhar clarified that there is no need to pay the tax and assured that errors in billing will be rectified.
According to municipality officials, town planning officials served notices to Rapani Ankaraju on Saturday stating that he has to pay Rs 77,900 as house tax for the year 2021-2022 for his small house. He received Rs 264 house tax bill for the same house last year. “Despite showing the previous bills while seeking an explanation from municipality employees over the tax amount, the officials refused to respond and warned of disconnecting water connection if I fail to pay the tax amount before the deadline,” alleged Ankaraju.
Responding to the issue, commissioner Sreedhar stated that the excess bill to a small house was due to a technical mistake and asked the public to approach them if anyone faces the same problem. “If anyone has objections, they can lodge a complaint with valid documents,” Sreedhar said.