CBDT chairman P C Mody pulls up tax officials over pending complaints

Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) Chairman P C Mody has hauled up income-tax (I-T) officials for not resolving grievances in a timebound manner.

In a communication to principal chief commissioners sent on Friday, the CBDT chief said pending cases are a cause of concern and point to a “lackadaisical attitude”.

Citing the pending cases, Mody said despite efforts by the board, it is seen that the number of pending grievances on the Centralized Public Grievance Redress And Monitoring System (Cpgrams) stood at 2,647, of which 885 are pending for over 30 days. Cpgrams is a flagship initiative by the Centre for reforming the governance. Similarly, e-nivaran, an ambitious facility launched by the CBDT for online redress of taxpayers, shows 34,026 cases as pending for resolution.

The platform deals with issues related to refunds, income-tax returns (ITRs) and PAN among others as part of its initiative to reduce instances of harassment of the public when it comes to complaints related to the I-T department. The apex body has mandated the tax department to resolve issues within 30 days.

The CBDT letter also said the redress of grievances is a major aspect of the department’s public relation exercise as also one of the primary focus areas of the government and it is monitored at highest level.