Chaos at Aundh Ward Office amid frequent power cuts & internet disruptions

Chaos reigned supreme at the Aundh Ward Office (AWO) of the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) on Monday as more than 100 citizens were forced to wait long hours to submit their PT-3 forms for the 40% concession on property tax amid recurrent power cuts and internet disruptions. Furious at having to wait for the restoration of power and the internet, some citizens got into heated arguments with the PMC staff, civic officials said.

Bhushan Kolhe, a resident of Balewadi who visited the AWO on Monday, recalled the harrowing experience. “I had gone to the ward office at around 9.45 am and was waiting in the queue. It took me almost three hours to submit the PT-3 form. Submitting the form and getting a receipt for the money paid takes just 10 minutes but due to poor connectivity and power cuts, I had to wait for so long for the same work. There have been frequent power and internet disruptions at the office in the past one week,” Kolhe said.

Sandip Patil, a resident of Pashan, said that over 100 citizens were forced to wait for hours in the hope that services would resume and the PMC staff was rude and unwilling to cooperate with them. “This is like harassment of the citizens. Why can’t the PMC fix the problem? Some of the citizens have been visiting the office twice or thrice due to connectivity issues. When the citizens try to speak with the PMC staff, they start arguing,” Patil said.

The PMC had started the process of getting a 40% discount on property tax in June, for which eligible property taxpayers had to first submit the PT-3 form. PT-3 forms were made available on the PMC website and citizens could get printouts and submit the forms in person to property inspectors at the concerned zonal offices or citizen facilitation centres along with a ₹50 fee. For the past one week however, residents from Aundh, Baner, Pashan and Balewadi visiting the AWO to submit their PT-3 forms have been struggling with frequent power cuts and internet disruptions.

Girish Dapkekar, assistant commissioner, AWO, PMC, assured that the problem will be resolved at the earliest. “I have received complaints from citizens regarding the inconvenience faced due to frequent power cuts and internet disruptions. The tax department is handled by the PMC main office. We are coordinating with the main department. The internet was down for over an hour but now the service has resumed. I have called the staff to enquire about the heated argument/s that took place this morning,” Dapkekar said.