HUBBALLI: As the financial year draws to a close, property taxpayers in Hubballi-Dharwad Municipal Corporation (HDMC) are grappling with technical glitches hindering online tax payments. Mobile app payments have been suspended, and the HDMC server is experiencing disruptions, leaving taxpayers unable to receive receipts even after successful transactions. Frustrated citizens are now compelled to resort to visiting private computer centres and HDMC or HD-One centres to fulfil their tax obligations. TOI delved into the challenges faced by taxpayers amidst the digital turmoil, shedding light on their struggles and the urgent need for resolution.Lingaraj Dharwad Shettar, a social activist and taxpayer, said that some of his friends are trying to pay taxes online but they have remained unsuccessful. “HDMC had activated all possible online platforms during the Covid pandemic lockdown and had got maximum collection in 2020-21 and 2021-22. Many citizens staying in other cities and countries had paid all their property taxes utilising the platforms. Now, most of online platforms are defunct and citizens are not paying offline,” he commented.
Sharing his experiences, Mayur Patil, a private employee, said that he went to pay the property tax of 5 of his neighbours. “First, I went to Hubballi-Dharwad One centre where staff insisted that I bring challans. Then I went to some common service centre and obtained them by paying Rs 20 per challan. I was surprised to know that HD-1 centres do not accept amounts from UPI apps. Moreover. their POS does not accept money from ATM cards of private banks. To fuel the situation, their POS accepts money only for 4 transactions from one ATM card. This was my worst experience while paying property tax,” he added, visibly angry.
Dharwad Shettar also noted that HDMC garbage vehicles announced that HDMC personnel will collect property tax from the doorsteps of citizens if the amount is over Rs 1,000. “Believing this, my friend, who was supposed to pay Rs 13,000, called the control room and got the number of an official, who never received a call or a response to our messages,” he asserted.
Deepa Hurali, senior engineer, MIS, HDMC, who is responsible for collecting tax from the doorsteps of citizens, said she was unaware of the announcements being made via garbage collection vehicles. “We visit only defaulting taxpayers to collect the pending tax. We do not have the provision of visiting taxpayers who owe more than Rs 1,000,” she stated.
HDMC commissioner Ishwar Ullagaddi was unavailable for comment related to defunct online platforms to accept property tax.
