Bhubaneswar: The Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) has roped in self help groups (SHGs) and other area-level organisations for collection of holding tax from houses as well as trade licence fees from business establishments.
A bidding process for the same has been initiated by the civic body for the purpose. Selected SHGs will be assigned one municipal ward each where they will depute their members to collect holding taxes as well as trade licence fees.
Holding tax is a crucial component of BMC’s revenue earning which is collected from people on the basis of area of a house, shop or commercial establishment.
“Since holding tax and trade licence fees are the two most important revenue sources of our organisation, we have decided to bring in SHGs for their collection. We have issued expressions of interest (EoIs) inviting SHGs to come and participate in the process. They will be selected through a competitive bidding process,” a senior official at the BMC said.
Sources said the move came after the civic body exhibited a dismal show in collection of holding tax from houses. Earlier this year the BMC had released its list of defaulters amounting to Rs. 9.33 crore, an amount similar to what was reported last year. Some of the names in the list were recurring with the largest defaulter amounting to Rs. 5.28 crore.
The civic body also stated in its official website that only registered SHGs will be eligible to apply for the assignment. The members will serve notices to houses and conduct door-to-door collection using hand-held and PoS devices provided by BMC.
“The SHG members will not only be responsible for collecting current taxes but also recover the arrears of the housing and other units. They will also identify the defaulters and report the same to the civic body following which red notices and other case certificates will be registered in their names,” the official added.