New Delhi: CBDT has called for according a "top priority" to addressing taxpayers' grievances by the Income Tax department after Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his disappointment about delays in corrective action and harassment of the assesses by tax officials.
Taking a stern view of the PM's rap on the knuckles to the department, Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) Chairperson Anita Kapur has asked all Principal Chief Commissioners and Directors General of Income Tax department in the country to pull up their socks and put the house in order before the next review of the subject by Modi.
"The status of pending public grievances with the Income Tax department was reviewed by the PM on March 25 through video-conferencing... During the meeting, he 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 officers," Kapur wrote in her recent communication to the field offices of the I-T department.
The CBDT boss told the officers that the deadlines set for this task earlier should be scrupulously followed. As per stipulated guidelines, grievances pending for more than one year have to be resolved by April 30 while those pending for more than two months should be addressed by June 7, 2015.
The apex policy making body of the I-T department, during the PRAGATI public grievance redressal initiative of the PM, has assured that it will fix the issue before the PM takes the next review on the said subject.
"In view of the above assurance and the fact that the PM will be personally monitoring status of public grievances on a monthly basis through PRAGATI programme, redressal of public grievances must take utmost priority in your work plan. "If need be, officers may be directed to conduct special drives to dispose of the public grievances pending with them so as to achieve the targets... Any breach of the timeline will be viewed seriously and accountability will be required to be fixed for such failure," Kapur told the officers.
According to sources, lakhs of grievance petitions, requests and complaints from taxpayers are pending with the department country-wide, with a majority of them related to delay in issuance of refunds, clarity on tax demands raised and few other such issues, forming the bulk of these. "The department will hold special camps in the first and second week of April to address the issue. All Chief Commissioners have been asked to take diligent steps and see that next review meeting with the PM does not invite his ire.
"The department will surely address all genuine problems of taxpayers within the given deadline," a senior I-T officer said. Modi has taken up the PRAGATI programme in order to ensure better service delivery by government departments and distribution of benefits of welfare programmes to the common public.
The PM has decided to review these issues on the fourth Wednesday of every month by interacting with Union government secretaries and top state state government officials via video conferencing.
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