MARGAO
Perhaps for the first time in recent years the Margao Municipal Council has not accepted the house tax and the garbage fees from citizens since the beginning of the new financial year, leaving tax payers in a quandary.
Reason: An undecided Margao Municipality is yet to take a call on implementing the 50 per cent hike in the garbage fees as per a 2020 government notification. Since the civic body accepts the garbage fees along with the house tax of households, no house tax has been accepted from citizens till date in the new financial year.
The MMC chairperson sought to attribute the failure to accept the taxes in the new financial year to the server related problem. Sources, however, pointed out that the civic body is not accepting only the house tax and garbage fees over the delay in taking a final decision in the implementation of the 50 per cent garbage fee hike, Rs 600 to Rs 900, a 50 per cent hike.
In fact, the payment counter located on the ground floor of the Municipal building witnessed an uproar after citizens questioned the delay in accepting payments towards the house tax, garbage fees, trade licence, besides rent.
Citizens pointed out that they had been doing the rounds of the civic body from Monday, but were informed to visit the civic body on April 6 to make the payments. When the citizens returned to the payment counter on Thursday, they found to their shock a fresh notice put up at the counter as well as at the building entrance intimating that the system will be in place from Monday on April 10.
Agitated citizens questioned the delay by the civic body in accepting the payments resulting in waste of time and energy.
Municipal officials in the know admitted that this is perhaps the first time in recent years that citizens, who came to pay the taxes at the beginning of the financial year, had to return home without making the payments in the absence of a firm decision on the implementation of the 50 per cent hike in garbage fees.
