TIRUCY: Even as efforts are on to recover all revenue dues in the form of taxes and other charges from the public before March 31, the city corporation will soon hold special sessions in all zonal offices to address residents' complaints on the collection drive, senior officials said.
"We have decided to conduct special sessions in the second week of February and March in all zonal offices. If the residents have any complaints about the revenue collection drive or the notices served by our team they can bring them up in the sessions. We would announce the dates of the sessions in the coming days. They can also approach the respective zonal offices to convey their issues," a senior corporation official said.
This comes when the civic body, as part of its crackdown on tax defaulters, till Thursday passed notices on 350 buildings and disconnected water supply to 70 houses for non-payment of property tax and other bills. Meanwhile, reliable sources said that the corporation has considered holding the grievance session following requests from some councillors.
"We had actually given enough time for the residents and commercial establishments to pay the bills but many of them continued to ignore it. We are still giving a platform for them to raise their grievances. This would also ensure that we have not made any mistakes and give residents sufficient opportunities to raise their complaints," a tax collection official said.
Of the total revenue target of Rs 298.86 crore for the current financial year, about Rs 146 crore has been collected so far, corporation officials said. "We have to finish the collection before the next financial year. Otherwise, it would lead to a severe financial crunch and it would affect future projects," a source said.