CHENNAI: Tambaram Corporation is at a crossroads despite achieving 70% of its tax collection target, as residents raise grievances over inaccuracies in property details and town planning violations.
Many residents have also got demand notices with incorrect square footage dimensions.
“We got demand notices with inaccurate details despite the self declaration form for tax payments. We are not able to rectify this. The civic body has not been responsive,” resident Ganesh Venkatraman said.
For some, the vacant land tax levied only on vacant properties were levied for constructed and occupied houses, he added.
While the civic body urges residents to pay online, it is still a challenge for many taxpayers. For instance, a resident Kaushalya R, says she is not able to record her property details on the website causing delays in payment. “We have been trying to fix this issue but no help so far. This is causing delays for assessment of property too,” she said.
Like her, many fear they will not be able to make their payments by March if their grievances are not addressed soon. When residents contact the civic body, their grievances are left unattended. “We are told the changes will be made, but we are still facing issues,” said another resident Gopalan Ravikumar.
To address this, the civic body plans to launch campaigns in all wards to assist residents in fulfilling their tax obligations. Revenue officials said they have assessed around two lakh properties so far. “We will launch door-to-door campaigns to educate people to pay taxes online. We will also hear their grievances,” P Mariselvi, a senior revenue officer said.
However, the civic body has its challenges too. These include properties that violate town planning guidelines. The violations include constructions on restricted land and other infringements. The civic body has initiated a survey of such properties to levy penalties, the officer added.
