Municipal officials are harassing honest citizens trying to pay their property tax.
Municipal officials are harassing honest citizens trying to pay their property tax.
MiD DAY did a reality check of some BBMP offices, and found clerks treating citizens with contempt and hostility, and trying to make money on the sly.
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People waiting to pay property tax near the V V Puram BBMP office
Pic/Vinod Kumar T |
At Yediyur, when we approached the BBMP ward office for a form, the man in charge screamed at us and said we hadn't given him the exact change. Others who went there yesterday complained of the same nasty treatment.
"I went to the ward at 10 am and stood waiting for an hour. No one even opened the door," said S Lata, who lives in a flat nearby.
Many people had gathered, and when nothing moved even at 11 am, they started knocking on the door.
"A boy came out and rudely told us the staff wouldn't be coming in to collect tax today," Lata said. Among those who had waited in vain was a senior citizen who could barely walk.
Inhuman staff
Kokila Aryan, a resident of Girinagar, has an injured leg, and lives far from the BBMP ward. Yet she made the trip and climbed the stairs to pay her tax.
"I stood in a long queue and it took too hours for my turn. When I produced my papers, the clerk said I had a mistake and sent me back," she told MiD DAY.
When Kokila sought his help to fill up the form correctly, he asked her for a bribe. "When I refused, he just threw my papers and walked away... I felt so humiliated," she said.
Dr Naresh Nair, a medical practitioner, had made three trips to the Yediyur ward office, but his work was still not done.
"The first time I came here, it was closed. The second time they had only Kannada forms. Since I don't want to bribe them, they are putting me through all this misery," he said.
At V V Puram
We then went to the VV Puram ward. About 50 people were waiting, but no BBMP employee was in sight though it was the middle of the day.
Ramaiah, a businessman, said, "In this office, they have no respect for human beings. They treat us like slaves."
He said he had paid Rs 250 to a tout, but no work had been done.
Many citizens said BBMP officials were shamelessly demanding money on the sly.
"I paid this man Rs 200... From filling the form to collecting the tax, he did it all without a glitch," said V Srinivasan, a government employee.
Another house owner found that BBMP officials were just greedy, and had no intentions of enforcing any rules.
"I hadn't paid my first six months' tax after I built my house. I had to pay extra Rs. 4,500 but didn't have that much cash on me... An official said he would waive the dues if I paid him Rs 1,000," said Sunitha Krishnamurthy, a housewife.
The BBMP has been running a media campaign to convince citizens that property tax paying is simple and transparent. Just visit your ward offices and see for yourself if that's the truth, Mr Commissioner.
