COIMBATORE: Several people have been inconvenienced as a software updation process delayed the issue of property tax and water bills by village panchayat administrations across the state for the last couple of months.
Several people claimed they could not pay these bills since April 2025. On Thursday too there were glitches in paying property tax even though officials from the Panchayat Administration said the server started working on Thursday onwards after more than 75 days as the software needed to be updated.
The staff at the panchayat administration offices claim the server has not been updated for two months, said residents.
T Mani, a resident of Ganesapuram in Coimbatore district who completed the construction of his house in April 2025, said, "I have been spending a minimum of Rs 4,000 per month on electricity bills as we could not change the electricity line due to delay in the assessment of the property tax."
As a temporary measure those who have just completed the construction of a new house pay a fee of Rs 10 per unit for a temporary electricity connection.
"If the house tax has been calculated, it is enough to submit the bill to the electricity board office and pay only Rs 2 per unit as the electricity. As the people could not get the assessed property tax for newly constructed houses, they have to spend more on electricity bills every month," said R Govindharaj, a social activist from Kattampatti Panchayat.
An industrial unit operator in Annur Taluk said, "To avail loan for industrial purposes, we have to pay property tax for the financial year as per the bank's norm. With the delay in getting the property tax bill, we faced an issue in getting a loan."
An official from the Assistant Director Office (Panchayat) in Coimbatore said, "The work was carried out to update the software to facilitate the payment of the property tax in two installments in a year as is being practised in municipalities and corporations, but it took time. Today (Thursday) onwards, the software has been enabled and the people can pay their tax."