CCP looks at tapping online tax payment

Panaji: Residents of Panaji may no longer have to queue up for hours before the corporation to pay various taxes. They will soon be able to pay their taxes from the comfort of their home or from their smart phones. As part of the central government mandated reforms, the Corporation of the City of Panaji is working on a plan to permit online payment of various taxes.
“Private banks have approached us with their proposals. We are yet to finalize the agency but since there is no money involved, this does not have to be tendered,” CCP commissioner Deepak Dessai said.
He informed that the CCP had received proposals from several banks including Kotak Mahindra Bank and ICICI Bank. “Most banks are offering the service free of charge. The bank will provide the app and the service,” Dessai said.
The commissioner was unable to give a timeline for the rollout of the service saying that huge data records of all the residents and commercial establishments would have to be uploaded.
This is not the first time that CCP is toying with an online solution for paying various corporation taxes. In 2013, when Surendra Furtado was mayor, CCP had initiated an agreement with HDFC bank to create a 'payment gateway solution' for collection of taxes electronically.
The CCP had received funds to implement a full-fledged e-governance system under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) scheme but failed to implement the project.