Kurnool: Usually, when people evade taxes, civic authorities issue notices and warn them of legal action. However, in a novel approach, Kurnool civic body officials are recovering overdue taxes from commercial complexes by staging peaceful protests, holding banners in front of the establishments.
With the financial year ending, the Kurnool Municipal Corporation has intensified efforts to collect dues from defaulters benefiting from municipal facilities. Additional commissioner R.G.V. Krishna launched an innovative programme on Tuesday to recover tax arrears amounting to lakhs of rupees.
He, along with revenue officials, staged a peaceful protest in front of a popular store in the city over non-payment of Rs 6.79 lakh related to a commercial complex in Abdullah Khan Estate. The officials informed them that municipal services to the establishment would be stopped if the dues were not cleared immediately. In response, the management provided a written commitment to settle the arrears by evening, leading to the withdrawal of the protest.
Similarly, another commercial complex owner was warned to pay Rs 5.57 lakh of pending dues, failing which further non-cooperation from the municipal corporation would follow. Revenue officer Junaid, revenue inspectors Bhargav, Tippanna, R. Raju and other officials participated in the protest. Additional commissioner Krishna stated that similar “Gandhigiri” methods would continue against tax defaulters.
