SCB spends Rs 20 lakh to earn Rs 13 lakh toll

HYDERABAD: In a move to cut private contractors out of tax collection, the Secunderabad Cantonment Board decided to do the job itself. It has pressed its own staff to collect octroi and toll tax. But the decision has resulted in a loss of Rs 7 lakh per month on octroi and toll tax collection.There are 12 check-posts in the cantonment.  Thirty-six divisional officers and 144 Class IV employees have been deputed to collect octroi (a tax on goods brought into an area) and toll tax. Everyday, SCB collects Rs 45,000 as octroi and toll tax. Each divisional officer is paid Rs16,000 and  a Class IV employee Rs 10,000 per month. It adds up to Rs 5.5 lakh for officers and Rs14.5 lakh for employees -- a total of Rs 20 lakh -- paid out as wages every month. But SCB’s monthly collection of octroi and toll tax does not exceed Rs13 lakh, leaving a loss of about Rs 7 lakh every month.The board’s CEO S Balakrishna says, “Private contractors used to cheat the public by charging more than the prescribed levies. So we took up the job ourselves.”To offset the loss, the SCB is proposing to revise its octroi and toll charges. If everything goes well, the revised tax rates will be implemented in a month or so.However, with more than half of the staff deputed to checkposts in the last two months, work like issue of certificates and verification of documents has been piling up. “Thirty-six of the 45 divisional officers have been sent to checkposts for tax collection along with 144 class IV employees,” said M J Joseph Celestine, SCB tax superintendent. These include staff from crucial wings like engineering, health and sanitation and tax department.As a result, citizen services like issue of birth and death certificates, collection  of property tax and sanitation work have been affected, said PV Sabitha, the SCB head accountant. She added that some citizen services were partially stopped for the last two months due to the staff shortage. Moreover, with officers of one wing deputed to tax collection work, staff of other wings have to take up the extra burden. The SCB CEO said measures have been taken so that major services are not hit.