KOCHI: This may seem unbelievable. The Kochi corporation, governing over Kerala’s commercial capital, collects building/property tax from residents only through cash — its officials going door to door for the purpose. But it is true.
The practice continues at a time when the Central government is pushing for digital transactions in all spheres. And Kochi corporation’s cash-only collection mode is in contrast to the online payment facility available in its neighbouring municipalities, including Kalamassery, Aluva and Maradu.
“The Kochi corporation officials came today (Thursday) to collect the building tax, and our tax comes to around Rs 16,000 (including arrears). Who keeps that much cash ready at home?” said a flat owner in the city. Besides, one office assistant would have collected Rs 4 lakh in cash from that particular apartment complex alone in two hours, the flat owner said.
“Now you scale it up to 8-10 hours per day, and imagine the amount of cash they collect, and then they will put the entire money in the system. Kochi corporation is going back in time when the entire system is moving forward with digital money, online transactions etc,” he said. When contacted, Kochi corporation officials said the door-to-door collection was done as the local body is facing a shortage of funds due to the absence of a proper online system for tax collection.
“The defaulters are taking advantage of this, and are reluctant to pay building tax. At present, the revenue department staff-members are collecting the tax, including revisions pending from 2016, by going to the places of defaulters in person,” said a Kochi corporation official. The Kochi corporation — the largest municipal corporation in the state — expects that, by January 2022, online building tax payment will be available under its e-governance system.
“The implementing agency for e-governance, Information Kerala Mission (IKM), is working on making the online tax payment option available at the earliest. The online facility to collect the property tax online will be made available by January 2022. So far, birth, death, and marriage certificates are issued online,” said Mayor M Anilkumar. “The tax collection is currently in its final stage as very few people are left to pay the building tax,” said an official with the corporation’s revenue department.
According to the corporation budget data, the expected revenue under building tax, inclusive of revision, for the financial year 2020-21 is Rs 130 crore. Last year, the corporation received Rs 114.8 crore, and expects to earn Rs 154 crore for the next financial year (2021-22). Without a proper system for tax collection, there is no proper record of tax defaulters with the officials.
“The lack of a proper system for tax collection has affected the corporation’s revenue generation, which resulted in a shortage of funds. Without a proper system to record the details of each taxpayer, there are many defaulters in the city who continue to be reluctant to pay. We hope that once e-governance is implemented, there will be no defaulters,” the mayor said.
Online facility likely by Jan, says mayor
“The implementing agency for e-governance — Information Kerala Mission (IKM) — is working on making the online tax payment option available at the earliest. The online facility to collect the property tax online will be made available by January next year. So far, birth, death, and marriage certificates are being issued online,” said Kochi Mayor M Anilkumar.