NT NETWORK
MAPUSA
In a bid to improve tax collection system, Mapusa Municipal Council (MMC) is planning to implement spot billing for collection of taxes and rent directly from households and establishments under its jurisdiction.
Presently, the accounts department first prepares the bills that are distributed across all the wards and the residents, as per their convenience, come at the municipality office and stand in long queues to pay the bills or taxes. The other option available is online payment.
A note has been moved by the council officers, which will be placed before the council meeting scheduled on Friday to discuss the spot billing system.
Under the system, a handy machine will be used by contractor, to be finalised after a tender is floated, who will go from house-to-house issuing spot bills and collecting the payment and issuing a receipt on the spot.
With this system, the civic body is hoping to ease the woes of the citizens. The tax payers will no more have to visit the municipality office and wait for their turn and even municipality will not have to deploy additional staff for distribution and other purposes.
Spot billing machine is a portable machine similar to the machine which pigmy collectors use, but this machine can store database of around 1000-plus houses and will be connected to the server of the municipality.
Disclosing about the spot billing system, chairperson of Mapusa Municipal Council Sandip Falari said that “this system will help in speedy recovery of taxes and reduce the backlog and, in addition, there will be add-on features like part payment, complaint via SMS system, reminders about the payments etc.”