The Times of India            13.12.2013

32,000 unassessed properties in Pune, Pimpri Chinchwad

PUNE: There are around 32,000 residential and commercial properties unassessed for property tax in Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad, revealed two separate surveys conducted by the municipal corporations. Of the 32,000 properties, 10,000 are in Pune municipal limits, while the remaining is in Pimpri Chinchwad.

"So far, we have found around 10,000 properties, but we are expecting an addition of 5000 properties. All these properties come under the property tax net. The municipal corporation hopes to get an additional property tax of about Rs 10 crore per year from the 10,000 unassessed properties,'' said Hemant Nikam, head of the PMC's property tax department. He added that most of these properties are from the fringe areas of the city.

The PMC started the survey mid-November and will continue till the end of this month, he said.

The PCMC, which started the survey three months back, has found around 22,000 unassessed properties. The civic body is looking at change in the use of properties from residential to commercial, and whether any changes or extensions have been made in the constructions. So far, 24,000 properties have been found in which the owners have made changes and extensions, said municipal commissioner Shrikar Pardeshi on Tuesday.

There are 3.25 lakh properties registered with the property tax department, however, the municipal corporation believes that the number of properties is more as the population has increased to 17.5 lakh. According to an estimate by the PCMC, there are around five lakh properties in the municipal limits. Pardeshi said the civic body has surveyed 2.24 lakh properties till now. The tax assessment of the unassessed properties will be conducted.

PCMC assistant commissioner Bhanudas Gaikwad, who is the chief of property tax department, said the survey is expected to end by December 15. There are 355 teams conducting the survey. The enumerators have been provided with forms that need to be filled by the citizens with information on the property, the property holders' details and contact numbers, type of property, type of construction, usage, and whether tax assessment has been done.