:The cash-strapped Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), which is often accused of collecting beggar cess but not passing it to the central relief committee (CRC), is in the news again. This time for refusing to provide details about the beggar cess.
Noting the delay in not replying to a Right To Information (RTI) query on beggar cess, the Karnataka Information Commission has issued show-cause notice to the BBMP Public Information Officer why Rs. 25,000 penalty should not be imposed for delaying the response.
Annually, the civic body charges three per cent on the total property tax collected as beggar cess, which is passed on to the CRC for rehabilitation of beggars. The cess, according to a BBMP official, is being collected since 1976. While beggar cess was being charged at the rate of one per cent on the total property tax earlier, it is now three per cent.
The order was passed by the State Information Commissioner D. Thangaraj after queries on the date of starting the collection of beggar cess and authority or council resolution or government resolution authorising collection of the cess by the BBMP was stonewalled by the civic authorities concerned.
While RTI activist Wg. Cmdr. G.B. Athri sought the information from the BBMP for the first time on November 23, 2012, the BBMP is yet to furnish these details. Hence he approached the KIC. Section 20 (1) of the RTI Act entails levying penalty of Rs. 250 per day to a maximum of Rs. 25,000 for delay in providing required information.
“Worse was to come when the Information Commission issued summons, the BBMP representative did not turn up. The order issuing show-cause notice was given in their absence,” he added.
He said the BBMP normally collects the cess but does not transfer the money for rehabilitation of beggars, and this issue has been raised several times over the last decade. In 2011, the High Court also took note of the beggar cess not being diverted to the CRC.
The BBMP official, however, acknowledged that the civic agency is yet to release the complete amount that it has collected as beggar cess so far.
