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Taxation

Now you can pay GHMC taxes in banks

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The Hindu          26.12.2014   

Now you can pay GHMC taxes in banks

To make the process of different tax and licence fee payments easier for citizens, the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) has tied-up with different banks in the city.

So far, the civic body has been accepting property tax, advertisement tax, trade licence, building permission fee and other payments only at e-Seva and Citizen Service Centres.

Since these centres are limited in numbers in the city, those having to pay the taxes and fee had to travel and queue up for their turn.

Seeking to ease the payment mode easier, the civic body has decided to tie-up with different banks and facilitate receipt of taxes and license fee at 555 different branches of these banks. These agreements were reached with senior representatives of banks at a special meeting convened by the GHMC recently.

Also, for payments made at e-Seva and Citizen Service Centres, the GHMC had to pay a service charge which would not be required with the new mode of bank payments thus saving around Rs.50 lakh to the civic body.

Network banks

“Citizens henceforth can visit nearest branch of these networked banks and make the payment instead of having to travel to Citizen Service Centres and so on,” said GHMC Commissioner and Special Officer Somesh Kumar.

The banks that have tied-up with the civic body to accept the taxes and fee include 200 branches of the State Bank of Hyderabad, 200 branches of Andhra Bank, 74 branches of ICICI, 45 branches of Indian Bank, 15 branches of Indus Hind, 11 branches of Yes Bank and 10 branches of Kotak.

Few more banks have also evinced interest in joining the network, according to Mr. Somesh Kumar.

The banks have also agreed to set up separate counters for receiving the taxes at their branches and appropriate boards to this effect would be displayed there, he said.

The payments could be made in cash or through, credit card or debit card.

 

KMC not to levy water tax

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The Times of India         24.12.2014  

KMC not to levy water tax

 KMC not to levy water tax

 


The Kolkata Municipal Corporation will not levy tax on drinking water for the citizens.

KOLKATA: The Kolkata Municipal Corporation will not levy tax on drinking water for the citizens. Chief minister Mamata Banerjee made it clear at a function on Tuesday evening at Dhapa, located off Eastern Metropolitan Bypass where the CM inaugurated a water treatment plant with a capacity to supply 30 million gallons of filtered water. While expressing happiness that the new water treatment plant would meet the demands of lakhs of residents living along EM Bypass, Banerjee raised the tax issue and made it amply clear that the Trinamool Congress was dead against imposition of tax on drinking water.

"When we came to power in 2000 in the KMC, I advised the then mayor Subrata Mukherjee to arrange for sufficient water for the citizens across Kolkata. But I had also advised not to levy tax on water as it is an essential service which should come free of cost. I am glad that the KMC has constructed a water treatment plant to cater the entire EM Bypass population. Even today I have advised not to levy tax on this essential service," Banerjee said after inaugurating the water treatment plant. Banerjee advised mayor Sovan Chatterjee who was present at the function to ensure safety and security of the entire water treatment plant complex.

"I think the civic body needs a police outpost to man the new water plant as it is a sensitive installation," Banerjee said. In reply, the mayor said that the KMC had already donated 1.5 bigha land to Kolkata police to set up a police station for the safety of the water treatment plant. Former mayor Subrata Mukherjee also present at the function recalled how the Trinamool Congress run KMC board had initiated augmentation of water supply in Kolkata by modernizing Palta waterworks. CM speaking at the function asked the mayor to ensure that people get filtered water at the earliest. According to the KMC water supply department officials, the residents of EM Bypass from Beliaghata to Patuli (Garia) would get filtered water from the newly constructed plant by next three weeks.
 

NDMC presents budget, proposes hike in taxes

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The Hindu      20.11.2014 

NDMC presents budget, proposes hike in taxes

A range of tax hikes and new cesses were proposed by the North Delhi Municipal Corporation on Wednesday when Commissioner Pravin Kumar Gupta presented the budget for 2015-2016.

At a special meeting of the Standing Committee, Mr. Gupta proposed a 50 per cent hike in the base unit area value for property tax assessment and an increase in one-time charges. He also proposed a congestion charge for four-wheelers entering the busy City, Sadar Paharganj and Karol Bagh zones. Also for the time, Mr. Gupta suggested a cleaning tax to be levied on residents and organisers of public events.

To improve sanitation services, the Commissioner said Rs.80 crore had been earmarked for garbage collection in four of the corporation’s six zones. Another Rs.5 crore was earmarked for the reclamation of the sanitary landfill site at Bhalswa. Under the Centre’s Swachh Bharat campaign, the corporation will set up 100-litre dustbins at a cost of Rs.1.5 crore and build 100 ‘electronic toilets’ in schools and markets at a cost of Rs.6 crore.

North Corporation Leader of the Opposition Mukesh Goel said the budget proposal would burn a hole in the pockets of citizens. “The Commissioner has not spared anyone, from property-owners to those buying new cars. We won’t allow the BJP to burden people,” said Mr. Goel.

Meanwhile, the North Corporation’s budget deficit will increase from Rs.770 crore in 2013-2014 to Rs.850 crore in 2014-2015. The budgetary shortfall is being met by internal borrowings, however, the Commissioner proposed “expenditure control measures”.

The budget for 2015-2016 stated that the deficit should be controlled at Rs.700 crore. For the financial year 2015-2016, the expenditure will be Rs.4,422.87 crore and income is expected to be Rs.4,404.11 crore.

 


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