Chennai residents unable to pay property tax online

Problems with the electronic data processing cell for 2 months, say users

The Corporation’s online system of property tax collection has stopped working over the past two months because of problems in its electronic data processing cell.

Several residents who have been trying to remit property tax have registered complaints with the civic body.

“I tried to remit property tax online on April 2. I was unable to make the payment. Officials claimed the problem was because of the Lok Sabha elections. I am unable to pay the tax online even four days after lifting of the model code of conduct,” said a resident.

“Online payment of tax is useful for a large number of people who reside in foreign countries and other cities. The number of residents using the online payment system is rising in the city,” said K. Suresh Kumar, a licensed surveyor.

More than 12 percent of the property tax collected last fiscal was through online and walk-in payment modes.

The Chennai Corporation collected about Rs. 480 crore as property tax from residents in 2013-14, an increase of around Rs. 19 crore over the previous year.

The previous fiscal, the tax amount collected through online and walk-in modes of payments was less than 10 percent of the total collection. “The increase in online payment is mainly because a large number of residents living in other parts of the country have invested in property in many of the 15 zones in Chennai,” said an official.

Property tax payment is made by residents living in other parts of the world using zone number, division number, bill number and sub number. Such assessees will be able to print the receipt for filing income tax returns. Officials said problems pertaining to electronic data processing in the civic body would be resolved shortly.

“We are generating manual receipts because of the problem with handheld machines. Changes in zone numbers could be yet another reason for glitches in the online system,” said an official.

The method of tax collectors making door-to-door visits for collecting dues is likely to remain the popular mode of payment, said the official.