Narendra Modi pulls up I-T dept, seeks faster disposal of grievances
Modi expressed his unhappiness after a review meeting on the status of public grievances with revenue secretary Shaktikanta Das and Anita Kapur
Cracking the whip on the income tax (I-T) department, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has asked it to ensure faster disposal of public grievances as well as avoid harassing taxpayers.
Modi expressed his unhappiness after a review meeting on Wednesday on the status of public grievances with revenue secretary Shaktikanta Das and Anita Kapur, chairperson of the Central Board of Direct Taxes.
In a letter dated 26 March to tax officials, Kapur said in the meeting, the Prime Minister “expressed dissatisfaction about delays in responding to public grievances by our officers as well as about the harassment meted out to the taxpayers and officious behaviour of our taxpayers." A copy of the letter was seen by Mint.
Modi will be personally monitoring the status of public grievances every month, Kapur said in the letter, and stressed that the redressal of public grievances should become a priority for the tax department.
As per the interim action plan of the tax department for the first quarter of 2015-16, officials have been asked to dispose of all grievances pending for more than a year by 30 April and those pending for more than 60 days by 7 June. Officials have been instructed to conduct special drives to dispose of pending grievances as per the action plan.
Warning of strict action in case the instructions are not followed, Kapur said, “Any breach in the timeline will be viewed seriously and accountability will be required to be fixed for such failure."
Though the National Democratic Alliance government has promised a non-adversarial tax regime, complaints about the aggressive tax demands and corruption ridden practices of the tax department are yet to abate.
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