The Coimbatore Corporation disconnecting water supply to an apartment complex if a few residents did not clear tax dues was not the right approach as the majority of the residents who had paid the tax would suffer, Coimbatore Consumer Cause has said.
The organisation’s secretary K. Kathirmathiyon in a letter to the Corporation officials had said that the civic body’s warning to apartments’ residents that the main water line to the premises would be cut if even one resident did not pay the property tax was not appreciable and unwarranted.
Though the organisation supported the Corporation’s move to collect tax dues, the initiative to disconnect the common water supply was unjust and illegal.
The Corporation provided bulk water connection to apartments only because individual water connection was not possible. If the majority of the residents of the apartments had paid the tax and water charges, they had the right to enjoy water connection and they could not be penalised for somebody’s fault.
Besides, there was no legal provision for the Corporation to do so. A few years ago when the Corporation made a similar move the Coimbatore Consumer Cause had opposed the same. And after the opposition, the Corporation had dropped the move.
PenaltyInstead of punishing law abiding citizens for the fault of defaulters, the Corporation should consider levying penalty and collecting tax dues with interest for the delayed period, Mr. Kathirmathiyon added.
