Councillors in Salt Lake, which has a sizeable elderly population, will go door-to-door and assist them in paying their property tax bills, a senior official of the Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation (BMC) said.
The move to help residents file their taxes on time was taken at a meeting held recently at Poura Bhavan, the BMC headquarters.
"Across Salt Lake, there is a sizeable percentage of the elderly population. Many stay alone. Given the circumstances, mobility is an issue for many here and we decided to extend all possible help to pay their taxes on time so that they don't need to pay penalties for no possible fault of theirs," said mayor Krishna Chakraborty.
According to an official of the civic body's property tax department, bills are being sent to all 41 wards.
The BMC is in charge of providing civic services to several parts of the northeastern part of the city, including Salt Lake, parts of Rajarhat and areas along VIP Road like Kestopur, Baguiati, Kaikhali, Arjunpur, Chinar Park and Teghoria among others.
The official said that for this financial year, the corporation has added conservancy and sewerage charges to the property tax bills for all the wards.
Earlier only wards in Salt Lake paid these charges.
He added that the civic body hoped to collect ₹40 crore from property tax this fiscal year. Last year, ₹22 crore was collected as property taxes from across the BMC areas last fiscal.
Anita Mondal, deputy mayor and the councillor of Ward 30, said they had received feedback from residents in various blocks in Salt Lake and other parts where elderly residents sought help from the civic body in paying their taxes on time.
"Although we have multiple options of paying the tax, including online mode, through banks and dedicated counters at borough offices and Poura Bhavan, several residents, especially the elderly, requested us to help them so that they do not have to pay the penalty and the interest. We are planning to make a list and conduct door-to-door visits and if needed deposit their cheques at banks or borough offices so that they can avoid getting penalised unnecessarily," said Mondal.
According to a civic official, the collection of property taxes, especially in areas adjoining VIP Road like Baguiati, Kestopur, Teghoria and Rajarhat, has been quite low over the last few fiscal years.