The Times of India                20.05.2013

Rs 370cr property tax dues pending

PUNE: The Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation will initiate steps to recover property tax arrears worth Rs 370.53 crore accumulated till 2012-13.

Speaking to TOI, municipal commissioner Shrikar Pardeshi said, "A part of the property tax arrears was stuck in litigations and could not be recovered. Instructions have been given to the chief accountant to identify the cases so that recovery can be initiated. If we find that civic officials have been negligent in recovering the arrears then action will be taken against them."

The move comes after Raju Salve, vice-president of the environment cell of Pimpri Chinchwad unit of Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), received information through his query under Right To Information (RTI) Act that the civic body has failed to recover property tax arrears worth Rs 370.53 crore from 1.51 lakh properties in 2012-13 which also includes previous arrears worth Rs 246.30 crore.

Salve in his letter to Pardeshi demanded departmental inquiry against civic officials who have been negligent in recovering the arrears and asked for legal action against them. He said that the property tax department has failed to recover arrears from marriage halls, educational organizations, industries, big colonies and others. He also demanded that the civic body must publish names of the big defaulters in newspapers under section 4 of RTI Act 2005.

There are 15 divisions of property tax department in the city. Around Rs 70 crore of property tax arrears need to be recovered from Nigdi division, which is the highest. The second highest is of Rs 52.01 crore from Thergaon division while the third highest of Rs 45.94 crore is from the PCMC main office building division. Rs 2.64 crore from Charholi division and Rs 4.73 crore from Talawade division are the lowest amounts.

Shahji Pawar, assistant commissioner and chief of property tax department, said, "The department cannot recover arrears of Rs 80 crore due to pending court cases. The state government organizations owe Rs 70 crore. Also Central government organizations owe around Rs 13 crore. The department has made maximum efforts to recover the arrears and succeeded in collecting an all-time high tax of Rs 261.03 crore in 2012-13.

The department has sent notices to the defaulters as well as sealed properties of some defaulters. Moreover, the department charges a 2% fine per month on arrears from defaulters."