If Citizen Voices Don’t Count, Stop Calling It Public Consultation

 An interesting experience I recently had while trying to submit a suggestion to the Income Tax Department.

I have developed a proposal for them to improve the method for declaring non-taxable income to avoid TDS. However, despite searching for an official channel to submit suggestions to the Ministry of Finance or the CBDT, I could not find an established portal or email address for public proposals.

To seek guidance, I utilized the Income Tax Department’s grievance redressal mechanism on the e-filing portal. I submitted following query asking how a member of the general public could formally submit a suggestion for departmental improvement:

“I have a proposal for the IT Deptt. aimed at improving the current method for Declaration of Non-taxable Income to avoid TDS. My proposal could potentially benefit crores of stakeholders including taxpayers, banks/NBFCs and the IT Deptt. by avoiding unnecessary paperwork and aligning with the Digital India initiative. How can I submit my proposal, if there is any system for accepting suggestions from the general public? Kindly guide.”

They provided the following resolution to my grievance:

“We sincerely appreciate your valuable input, as it enables us to better understand user experiences and identify areas for improvement. Please be assured that your feedback has been duly noted and will be carefully reviewed by the concerned team”.

First, it is frustrating that there is no system for accepting public input. Second, if the department is not interested in suggestions from citizens, why can’t they state it clearly?

This is a generic "pass" template designed to close a ticket, not solve a problem. Masking indifference behind automated "feedback noted" templates is incredibly discouraging to civic participation.