Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation ropes in transgenders to recover holding tax
BHUBANESWAR: The Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Wednesday signed an agreement with TG Swikruti Self Help Group (SHG) to rope in transgenders for recovering holding tax and trade licence fee in the Capital.
The agreement has been signed by both the parties for a period of one year and it is subject to be extended with mutual consent.
The SHG will carry out the enforcement and recovery throughout the month or as and when required by the BMC. Both the parties will maintain record of the recovery of the tax and the SHG will submit its report on the collection to the corporation on 5th of every month.
The civic body will provide vehicle with fuel, uniforms and identity cards to the members of the SHG to carry out enforcement task. The BMC has also asked the SHG to ensure well behaviour of its members to be engaged for the task.
Officials said the payment to the group will be based on the tax it recovered in a month. The BMC will provide one per cent for Rs 40 lakh a month. If it exceeds Rs 40 lakh but remains below Rs 60 lakh, the amount will be 1.5 per cent. Similarly, if the collection exceeds Rs 60 lakh, the BMC will provide two per cent.
BMC Deputy Commissioner (Revenue) Srimanta Mishra said the group will be exclusively looking after collection of revenue from defaulters, whereas general collections will continue in the usual manner through the regular mechanism of the corporation. Mishra will coordinate with the group to ensure timely collection of the tax and fee from the defaulters.