COIMBATORE: A response to an RTI query revealed that the TNSTC, Udumalpet branch in Tiruppur district, has failed to pay Rs 1.31 crore in professional tax to the Udumalpet municipality for the past 10 years.
In an RTI filed by R Mohanraj, a former conductor of the same branch, the Udumalpet municipality said that it collects professional tax and property tax from the TNSTC Udumalpet branch twice a year.
It said that the Udumalpet branch has not paid property tax to the municipality for the years 2023-24 and 2024-25, amounting to Rs 2,26,979.
It has also not paid professional tax to the municipality from 2015-16 to 2024-25.
The TNSTC has pending dues of Rs 36,65,712 for the period 2015-16 to 2018-19 and Rs 95,30,868 for 2018-19 to 2024-25. The total pending tax amount owed to the municipality is Rs 1,31,96,580 crore, the reply stated.
The municipality said in its warning letter that not paying taxes to the municipality is an unlawful activity.
Mohanraj told TNIE that TNSTC deducts an amount as professional tax twice every year from the bus crew's salary, depending on the salary scale.
He said, "For instance, TNSTC Udumalpet branch deducted around Rs 16,300 from him as professional tax between 2015 and 2022, and the same branch has deducted professional tax from around 600 conductors and drivers in this branch alone."
He alleged that TNSTC, Tiruppur, has not paid the collected amount to the municipality, adding that this is common in most of the TNSTC branches in the state. He demanded clarification on how the money was used.
When contacted, an officer at Udumalpet Municipality, who did not wish to be named, told TNIE that they had sent out multiple notices to TNSTC Tiruppur officers, seeking payment of pending tax, but officers claimed they were waiting for funds from their department.
He added that, except for a few corporations in the state, this issue is common across all local bodies, and TNSTC owes several crores in payments to them.
An officer of TNSTC in the Coimbatore division told TNIE that due to the financial crisis in the transport department, the amount deducted from the crew is being used to meet transportation expenses, as there is no alternative source of funds.
Principal Secretary of the transport department, Shunchonngam Jatak Chiru, told TNIE that each State Transport Undertaking (STU) usually sorts out such issues with the concerned local body, adding that it is an ongoing process.
The story is reported by N Dhamotharan for The New Indian Express
