Copyright thehindu
Residents have complained about glitches in the pet licensing system of the Greater Chennai Corporation. The civic body has set a deadline of November 23 for obtaining a licence for dogs and cats. Chennai Corporation Council recently passed a resolution to collect a fine of ₹5,000 from pet owners who failed to get a licence. Starting November 24, the civic body will begin sending teams to households to collect fines from residents who failed to get a licence for dogs and cats. Federation of OMR Residents’ Association’s (FOMRRA) Human-Animal Conflict Group said many residents who have already obtained pet licences were unable to log in. FOMRRA flagged the issue on X, claiming that support was not available for users. FOMRRA co-founder Harsha Koda said: “The move to make pet licensing compulsory is welcome, but the rollout leaves much to be desired.” Pointing to issues reported by residents on social media, he said: “The GCC portal is plagued with technical issues that hinder compliance. In particular, login, renewal, and adding new licenses are problem-ridden: the system refuses the PIN it helped users set up last year and demands a password instead.” The ‘forgot password’ option is ineffective, producing only an error message. There are no accessible options for assistance or troubleshooting, leaving users without support to resolve these issues, he said. “The issue is very simple. The use of technology to track pet animals is a great idea. But the proof of the pudding is in baking it right. If they can’t make the website work, or make life harder for people who complied last time around... then they have to make sure they don’t impose any deadlines on citizens. Also with more than 50% of OMR coming outside city limits the citizens of thousands of apartments are wondering how to register non GCC pets. The panchayats in these areas have no clue,” he said. Ward 88 councillor G.V. Nagavalli said residents have requested the civic body to share reliable information about obtaining pet licence through battery operated vehicles that visit each neighbourhood. Federation of Thoraipakkam Residents Welfare Associations president A. Francis said new registration of pet animals was not an issue and he was able to carry out a new registration of his pet online. “There is no clarity. Residents want better clarity as the deadline has been set,” he said. Animal welfare activist Jayanth Prakash said there was lack of awareness among the people and there were some technical difficulties registering their pets online. “GCC must provide pet ambulance or transportation facilities for the pet owners who are unable to use a public transportation. GCC must first provide zone wise awareness to public about the importance of registering their pets and explain the need and benefits. There are many illegal boarding shelter across the city for dogs and cats and GCC must first impose a fine on the individuals who run these illegal shelters and shut them down first,” he said. “In Tamil Nadu rabies deaths were 43 during 2024 and 25 deaths till September 2025. These are only registered cases. There could be many unregistered cases. I think GCC must first ascertain the effectiveness of anti rabies vaccination done in the city. Recently, a 47-year-old man died of rabies in Chennai despite administering a full rabies vaccination course. Many ARV vaccinated dogs in Chennai city have died of rabies which questions the efficacy of these vaccines and how they are stored. So having these many problems, imposing fines on pet owners who have not registered and microchipped their pets is not a priority,” he said. Chennai Corporation officials said most of the dog owners have not obtained a pet licence and the civic body will take measures to expedite the process of pet licensing for better regulation.
