Kolkata: With residents of added areas feeling harassed in having to deposit their taxes twice, once with the BLRO office and then with the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC), the civic body is in the process of introducing a single-window system where such residents can make the payment for both online.
Addressing a seminar at Merchant Chamber of Commerce & Industry (MCCI), Binod Kumar, KMC Municipal Commissioner said that the civic body has been receiving complaints from several residents of the added areas. He said originally wards 1-100 were under the KMC. Later, the rest of the other wards (101-144) were added.
He said: “We are all aware that there exists the Land Reforms Act. As a solution, if we try to take these people in these added areas out of this, then it may give rise to several cases of litigation over land pattahs and other issues. Hence, this will not be possible.”
The Municipal Commissioner informed that KMC is instead exploring the option of setting up one platform through which people in the added areas can deposit taxes for both the BLRO and the KMC at one time.
He said that KMC has taken up the matter with the principal secretary of Land & Land Reforms department for setting up an online system where both the taxes can be deposited together. The talks are on and we are hopeful we will be able to reach a solution.
In the context of mutation of properties, he said that presently the rule that prevails is if one buys a property from someone who has already got their property mutated with the KMC the new owner does not need to file for mutation separately since the transfer gets done automatically. But, if the previous owner did not get the property mutated, the new owner will have to file for a mutation application. “Soon KMC will take this entire process into automation mode”, Kumar said.