Property Tax Anomaly

I have been writing to the Commissioner, Tambaram Corporation with copies to the Chief Minister’s office and the Chief Secretary but to no avail.

I am a senior citizen, residing at Flat No.3M in a residential complex, comprising 57 units located at 6A Rajendra Prasad Road, Nehru Nagar, Chromepet, Chennai 600 044.

I purchased the said property in 1996.  It was then under  the jurisdiction of Pallavarapuram Municipality.  The original Assessment No.007/45429 of the property  was amended to 009/035/902801.

Though I did not go for the name change immediately, I was, however, paying the property tax on a regular basis.  Till the year 2012-13, I paid the tax at the half-year rate of Rs.414 in respect of the amended Assessment No.009/035/902801.  I enclose the Receipt No.1250045 dated 03.04-2012 in this regard.

Due to my sudden indisposition and other issues, I could  not remit the property tax from 2013-14 to 2017-18. The half-year tax rate was Rs.414.

On March 22,2023, I received a final notice asking me to pay the tax arrears.  It was during this time that the officials imposed a higher rate of tax.

Besides assigning a new Assessment No.009/036/902725 to the said property, the officials came out with a plan, whereby I was asked to pay  the tax for the period from 2016-17  to 2023-24 at the half-year rate of Rs.4,760 as against the previous rate of Rs.414.  I was told by the officials that all earlier dues will be waived off in view of the assignment of new Assessment No.009/036/902725 and that the new rate of tax shall become payable by me.  I was further told by the officials that the new rate of tax shall become payable by the other residents in the complex, which, however, was proved to be a mere pep-talk to force me into paying  the revised rate of tax.

Such was the pressure exerted by the officials, led by one lady official who signed the final notice, for and on behalf of the then Commissioner of the Tambaram Corporation, that I had no other option but to pay the higher rate of tax.  I paid the  higher rate of half-year  tax of Rs.4,760 in two installments – Rs.45,140 on March 22, 2023 vide Receipt No.009/CP/22-23/0086237 for the period from 2016-17 to 2020-21, and, Rs.40,106 on August 16, 23. Vide Receipt No.009/CP/23-24/0061668 for the period from 2021-22 to 2023-24.

The old Assessment No.009/035/902801 was cancelled on March 28, 2019 with the remarks that there were no dues as of that date. If that were so, why did the  officials collect the tax for the period till 2018-19?

Further, while assigning the new Assessment No.009/036/902725, the officials had attached the said property to another ward 036, though the property is in Ward No.035 only. How is it that an immovable property is so easily moved to another ward?  What is the corresponding old number for the new Assessment No.009/036/902725?

In view of the above, I requested the Corporation to restore the old rate of tax and refund the excess amount collected.  I need to know  why the Assessment No.009/035/902801 was cancelled without any notice to me and what was the need to assign a new number in its place?  If someone is in arrears, is it correct to cancel the said assessment number and assign a new number and impose a higher rate of tax?  How can the Corporation  justify the cancellation of the earlier Assessment Number of the property and levy a higher rate of tax  when it is  able to locate the property  and its owner at the same address?

S. Kamala

Deputy Editor’s note: In keeping with responsible journalism, we have removed the name of the lady official from the above letter.

A Sip of Kindness in the Chennai Heat

This summer, while the city of Chennai was busy sizzling like a dosa on a hot tawa, my kids, Krishna and Meenakshi, and I decided to do something utterly revolutionary: we became official caretakers of the local bird population. No, really. We set up a bird bath in our tiny garden, and now we are full-time lifeguards for crows, pigeons, and the occasional butterfly.

 

It all began one sweltering afternoon when even the sun seemed to be saying, “Enna da, I’ll just fry you all today.” In her usual dramatic tone, Meenakshi declared, “Ammaaa, even the birds look thirsty! Look at that pigeon panting like it just ran a marathon!” That was all the motivation we needed.

Out came a spare terracotta uruli that had been sitting around doing nothing but collecting dust and the occasional dead leaf. Krishna insisted we give it a proper “inauguration,” so he washed it with dish soap and declared it “cleaner than our dinner plates.” I didn’t ask further.

We placed the bird bath near our money plant, hoping the bit of shade would make it more spa-like. The kids insisted on naming it—Meenakshi called it “Hotel Birdstar,” and Krishna, after careful thought, suggested “The Thanni Taj.” We compromised and called it Birdstar Taj.

Our first visitor was a confused house crow who stared at the bath suspiciously for five minutes before hopping in and splashing about like he was on a beach vacation in Kovalam. Meenakshi squealed, Krishna tried to take a video (and dropped my phone), and I stood there, soaking in the moment… and the splash.

Over the next few days, we had a steady stream of guests: rock pigeons, black kites who made a dramatic appearance (and scared the sparrows away), and even a butterfly who just wanted a quiet sip. It felt like our garden had turned into Marina Beach, minus the bajji stalls.

Of course, running a bird bath is no joke. The water has to be changed daily, or the mosquitoes throw a rave party at night. I now keep a rigid brush handy – one that looks like it could scrub off sin itself – to clean off any algae. Krishna calls it “the algae annihilator.”

And here’s what we learned from our stint as bird-bath managers:

Keep the bath low to the ground. Or, in our case, low enough that our cat doesn’t try to swim in it.

Don’t overfill. Birds like to bathe, not deep-sea dive.

Always place it in the shade. Even birds deserve some relief from Chennai’s auto-stand-style heat.

Keep the water clean. Because nothing ruins a good dip like a mosquito doing the backstroke.

In the end, what started as a summer boredom-buster turned into a sweet little routine of care and connection – with nature, with each other, and with the birds that sing their gratitude in flutters and coos.

As Krishna wisely put it while refilling the uruli one morning, “Even birds deserve a cool sip of water in this kadalora veyyil, Amma.”

And honestly, in a city where clean water is like gold, keeping some aside for our feathered friends feels like the most Chennai-style act of kindness – simple, heartfelt, and filled with a lot of thanni and love.

Priyanka Soman