Simplify procedure of refunding octroi, urges Assn

He blamed the backlog on the BMC’s policy to verify claimants’ money recepits, which are issued by BMC’s own check nakas after payment of octroi, with the check nakas. “This unnecessarily increases paperwork and besides this, BMC has not done anything to increase the members of its staff which handles refund work. Most of the refund workers are women who are naturally reluctant to work overtime and the claims increase,” said Thakker.

Thakker said BMC receives one lakh claims per year. “That makes it 8,000 claims per month. But the BMC is able to refund only 6,500 claims in a year. The only solution is to simplify the procedure of refunding and to increase staff,” said Thakker. He complained that the association’s meetings with joint municipal commissioner, Ajoy Mehta, had not yeilded any results and the BMC was not using the 10 per cent administration fees, charged behind every refund, for a solution to the problem.