Residents of Hubballi-Dharwad, who have been shelling out service charges for online payment of property tax, will not have to do that anymore.
The Hubballi-Dharwad Municipal Corporation (HDMC) has entered into a tie-up with IndusInd Bank, which will allow them to pay tax online without service charge.
HDMC Commissioner Noor Mansoor and Mayor Shivu Hiremath told presspersons on Saturday that it was part of the corporation’s initiatives to provide better services to residents. The link for the purpose is available on the corporation’s websitewww.hdmc.gov.in.
GPS for garbage vehicles
Mr. Noor Mansoor said that it had been decided to monitor the movement of garbage carrying vehicles by installing Global Positioning System (GPS) equipment in them in the wake of complaints about garbage collection and disposal.
“We plan to complete the installation of GPS equipment in 15 days. Once that is done, we will be able to keep track of the number of trips made by the vehicles,” he said.
Mr. Noor Mansoor said the corporation planned to start sending SMS to residents about the timing of arrival of garbage vehicles and also the cellphone numbers of drivers in coming days.
He said that the IVRS based toll-free number (18002700269) launched by the municipal corporation was being further improved. Mr. Noor Mansoor said that calls by residents would be divided into three categories depending on the issue they would be related to. “Complaints related to health and emergency works will be grouped under category A and they will have to be addressed within 24 hours. Cleaning of open plots, nalas and others will come under Category B, which will be addressed in seven days. The Category C complaints will be pertaining to technical problems related to water metres, installation of new street lights and others and they will be addressed in a month,” he added.
Hubballi-Dharwad Municipal Corporation Commissioner Noor Mansoor has said that more development works will be taken up in the twin cities in the next two-three years and preparatory meetings are being held for the purpose.
“The HDMC requires at least Rs. 400 crore a year for taking up works in accordance with the development needs of the twin cities. Now, we get around Rs. 90 crore as revenue, including property tax. We need to widen our tax net and also bring in around 35 per cent of properties in the twin cities that are out of the tax net,” he said. Mayor Shivu Hiremath said that the corporation had collected pending bills of Rs. 1.99 crore through the water supply disconnection drive.
