The Times of India                18.05.2013

Pune Municipal Corporation mops up Rs 7 cr from local body tax

PUNE: The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC), which is facing a revenue crunch, since the abolition of octroi has reason to cheer. It has mopped up Rs 7 crore from the local body tax (LBT) since the beginning of May.

Octroi, a key revenue source for the civic body, was replaced with LBT on April 1. Octroi would generate a daily revenue of Rs 3 crore and up to Rs 100 crore a month. In 2012-13, the civic body had registered revenue of Rs 1,200 crore from octroifor the 2012-13 fiscal for the civic body. Officials working in the local body tax department of the PMC said told TOI awareness about LBT is increasing, but the response from the traders is poorwas hardly exciting.

The traders are opposing the implementation of LBTand had said that as they believe it would hamper their businesses. The traders' associations have been on an indefinite strike since May 8 and most have kept their business closed.

"The response has increased in the last two days. Registered traders will have to make their payments for the LBT by May 20 or they will have to pay a fine as well as interest on the tax from from May 21," said Vilas Kanade, deputy commissioner (LBT) of the civic body.

The civic body on Friday collected over Rs 4 crore as LBT. He added that the PMC expects an increase in the revenue of LBT will as registered traders can only pay on May 18 and 20 as May 19 is a Sunday.

Over 63,000 traders in the city had registered for LBT till April 30, the deadline set by the civic body. Others, who have not registered for the LBT yet, may either have to pay five times more tax or stop business activities.