Hyderabad, Feb 25 (IANS): Facebook-owned WhatsApp on Thursday joined hands with the Commissioner and Director of Municipal Administration (CDMA), Telangana to ease the process of tax payment for citizens across the region.
The CDMA, Telangana has unveiled a dedicated WhatsApp channel that will be free-to-use and will also function as a source for up-to-date information about tax dues.
"We're delighted to partner with CDMA, Telangana and support their efforts to promote a Digital India through impactful Government to Citizen (G2C) services on WhatsApp," Shivnath Thukral, Head of Public Policy, WhatsApp India, said in a statement.
People can simply send a 'Hi' to CDMA, Telangana's official WhatsApp account on +91 90002 53342, to easily access these services and pay their taxes conveniently via a debit card, credit card or internet banking.
The chatbot is currently available in English and Telugu, with CDMA working to add Urdu as an additional language soon.
The 'CDMA, Telangana Property Tax Module' is an automated 'chatbot' service which has allowed citizens to substitute visits to the municipal office, enabling contactless transactions during the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.
The WhatsApp-based service is also expected to significantly boost tax collections.
"We would like to thank the WhatsApp team for their help in setting up this service. We will continue to add more services on CDMA's WhatsApp chatbot to ensure these services remain resourceful to citizens," said KT Rama Rao, Minister of Municipal Administration and Urban Development, Telangana.
Following an overwhelming response from citizens on the Tax Module, the CDMA, Telangana is also working towards leveraging WhatsApp to roll out services that will aid payment of water bills and other day-to-day municipality services like applying for birth and death certificates, grievances, enabling a water connection, building permissions, trade licenses and more.
The WhatsApp-based channel will provide citizens with all the information they need as well as a direct link to apply online for those services.