Yes it was. Councils are so keen to get at people on discounts that at least one is now telling people in receipt of a discount under Section 11(1) of the Act that not telling it about changes in circumstances which there is no duty to report under council tax discount law is a criminal offence under the Council Tax Reduction Regulations.
Here they are:
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2013/501/regulation/13/made
Can't recall if this one of of the outsourced services or not, but this sort of mess was predictable and this threat will no doubt be used by more than one council trying to bully taxpayers.
