Hyderabad:
The Income Tax department has launched two Ayakar Seva Kendras (ASKs) for tax-payers.
ASK is a single window contact centre for centralized receipt and registration of certain specified categories of documents, including income tax returns.
Rajeswara Rao, Chief Commissioner of the Income Tax Department (IT), who inaugurated the Kendras, said that this was an effort to change the I-T department's image from an "enforcement agency" to a service oriented organisation.
Mr Rao said that taxpayers' requests and grievances would be registered at ASK, and acknowledged through a unique identifier for tracking the resolution progress.
The I-T department in Hyderabad is suffering from a staff shortage of as much as 25 per cent, resulting in overburden on existing employees, and the staff at ASK is outsourced for better efficiency in services, he added.