Bhubaneswar, March 10: With the launch of the online payment of holding tax yesterday in tax ward No. 11, the civic body aims to cover all other 14 wards and then monitor the defaulters and penalise them.

The Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) is going to instil fear in the mind of the defaulters, something people associate with income tax (IT) raids to increase its collection from holdings and other services.

Municipal commissioner Krishan Kumar told The Telegraph: "Once the e-payment and those through the Jan Suvida Kendras (JSKs) are made operational in the entire city, our officials will start monitoring the tax collection activities and find out defaulters. If they fail to respond even after notices are served, then fines will be slapped on them."

It will take a year-and-a-half to streamline the online holding tax collection system, Kumar said. "An IT official doesn't have to knock on every door to collect taxes, but people file it since they are afraid of the consequences they have to suffer on failing to do so. We are going to take the same route. People must understand that it is their duty to pay the tax."

Speaking on the sidelines of the launch of the online services and mobile applications of the civic body yesterday, the municipal commissioner said: "Responsible citizens will make a better society. Timely submission of tax will also help us initiate development activities. As the city aspires to don a smart city tag, a positive change in people's attitude is also very important."

Sources said under the instructions issued by the Centre for the smart city concept, a city in order to be eligible for consideration should have a healthy tax base and citizen-centric participatory mechanism for tax collection.

It is another matter that after March 30 all defaulting holding taxpayers are going to face the music under the Odisha Public Demands Recovery Act. Certificate cases will be slapped against the defaulters and there is provision to attach movable, immovable property or even bank accounts if they fail to respond to the notices issued against them.

Chairman of BMC standing committee on finance and taxation, Seikh Nizammudin said: "It will be a welcome step by the civic body to be extra strict to collect holding tax from defaulters. However, there are several institutions operating from industrial estates across the city that have with huge outstanding dues against their names."

Law-abiding citizens are always willing to pay the holding tax. The officials should take defaulters and those, who defy BMC request even to be assessed for tax calculation, to task, Nizammudin said.

Nrupakishore Patnaik, a senior citizen and resident of Pokhariput, said: "Business establishments and educational institutions should also be strictly asked to pay their taxes so that the civic body can utilise them for public work."