Pune Municipal Corporation Cracks Down on Property Tax Defaulters, Seals 400 Buildings Since May
Pune, 22nd June 2023: Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has taken decisive action against property tax defaulters, sealing over 400 buildings since May this year.
Property owners and occupants received multiple notices reminding them to pay their outstanding taxes. However, despite repeated summons, these individuals failed to fulfil their obligations, leading to the sealing of their properties. The PMC will determine the next steps, including the possibility of auctioning these properties, in due course, stated Ajit Deshmukh, the head of the PMC’s property tax department.
PMC officials reveal that the civic administration is currently striving to recover approximately Rs 8,000 crore from tax defaulters, including prominent entities such as industries, commercial complexes, IT parks, hospitals, and mobile towers. Many of these defaulters have resorted to legal action against the recovery notices, hindering PMC’s ability to take coercive action and causing delays in the recovery process, according to a senior PMC official.
Furthermore, complaints have been raised concerning instances where tax has been erroneously imposed on a single property multiple times, leading to inflated tax amounts. To ensure realistic tax recovery figures, the administration should address these discrepancies and write off exaggerated tax amounts, suggested the official.
Critics have accused PMC of targeting small defaulters while granting tax waivers through various schemes, thereby creating a perception among delinquents that the PMC will offer tax benefits and penalty discounts. This frequent introduction of amnesty schemes has conveyed a misleading message to taxpayers, as stated by Vivek Velankar of Sajag Nagrik Manch, a citizens group.
Last year, the PMC adopted a unique approach to encourage tax payment by deploying musical bands to shame tax defaulters. These bands played loud music in front of the properties of defaulters, with property tax department officials accompanying them to collect payments on the spot.
In the financial year 2022-23, PMC successfully collected Rs 2,000 crore in property tax. For the fiscal year 2023-24, the civic administration has set a target of Rs 2,318 crore for property tax collection.
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