The Income Tax department has asked its officials to make sure that grievances do not remain pending beyond 30 days, PTI reported on Tuesday. The I-T department told all regional heads that Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during review meetings, had “stressed upon adhering to the timeline of 30 days for the redressal of a particular grievance”.

“One of the major reasons for delay in the grievance redressal is failure to identify competent officer to redress the grievance and lack of knowledge of recent circulars or instructions,” a circular said. The communication was issued by the department’s newly formed wing, ‘Directorate of Tax Payer Services’, set up in 2016 to focus on taxpayers’ grievances. The notice also said the complaint should be transferred within five days if it does not pertain to the Central Board of Direct Taxes.

“Sometimes the Assessing Authority fails to understand the processes and sends back the grievance to a wrong person. All these issues can be addressed if the assessing officer or the concerned authority gives due attention to the grievance at hand,” the communication said. In June, Modi had set a 10-day deadline for follow-up action on consumer grievances.