MADURAI: Days after the city corporation commissioner suspended five bill collectors for misuse of online tax collection platform to aid tax defaulters, the suspended bill collectors, along with members of the Federation of Madurai Corporation All Employees Association, staged a protest at the Zone 3 office in Madurai.
Based on a petition, the corporation conducted an inquiry with the suspended bill collectors.
Reportedly, the city corporation commissioner issued suspension orders last week to five bill collectors in Madurai for misusing the Urban Tree Information System (UTIS) online system for aiding tax defaulters to evade more Rs 1 crore in taxes. After a detailed enquiry by a special team, the suspension order was served to all five accused on August 16.
A suspended employee Mariammal, a junior assistant from Zone 5, stated that she was unaware that her login was misused and alleged that someone else had used her login to commit the offence. She alleged that there was no proper inquiry for proving her innocence, and urged the corporation to take action against the actual accused.
Another suspended bill collector said they are not involved in any alleged tax evasion issues, and urged that the programmers monitoring the UTIS application must be held responsible. He claimed that with their login credentials, such changes could not be made and they can only collect and upload data for approval.
Employees who gathered at the protest raised slogans, urging the corporation to cancel the suspension order and conduct a proper enquiry to punish the actual offenders.
K Muniyandi, president of the federation, led the protest and said the suspended bill collectors had been made scapegoats. “A proper enquiry should be conducted on all the officials involved in this. The corporation must also immediately cancel the suspensions, and reinstate the bill collectors,” he said.
After meeting the corporation commissioner and explaining their concerns, the protesting employees dispersed from the venue in the afternoon.
According to official sources, the city corporation will conduct an enquiry with the suspended bill collectors on Wednesday and hear their qualms. Officials also stated that based on the special team’s reports, criminal charges will be filed by the corporation against the accused involved in the scam.