The issue was raised by the leader of the
opposition, Sudhakar Badgujar, at the last general body meeting on
March 18. He had accused the deputy commissioner (taxes) of selectively
waiving property tax to the tune of Rs 2 crore for a construction firm
and Rs 6 lakh for a hotel.

“We will soon conduct a thorough
probe into the matter. To make the taxation process more transparent, we
have already started maintaining computer records of all the properties
and giving code numbers. This will help us in assessing all the
properties in a systematic way,” municipal commissioner Sanjay Khandare
told TOI.

Mayor Yatin Wagh said, “It is a matter of great
concern” and that he had asked the municipal commissioner to look into
the matter and submit the details at the forthcoming next general body
meeting.

“NMC collects property taxes from the residents,
industries and shops and the tax has been classified into residential
and non-residential. There is a difference in that too where the
industrial estates under the Maharashtra Industrial Development
Corporation (MIDC) are concerned, especially Satpur and Ambad which
comes under the NMC limits. They collect property tax of Rs 4.40 to Rs
4.45 per square metre from industries, while business houses are charged
Rs 11 per sq metre. Rules for commercial property should be the same,”
the leader of the opposition said.

Badgujar said the NMC
charges property tax of Rs 22 per sq metre for hotels, but they have
been collecting very less from some of them, waving as much as 50%.
“This is wrong and illegal. It is causing financial losses to the civic
body. One of the city hotels, built on an area of 8,261.50 sq metres,
was charged only Rs 6.91 lakh, whereas the actual property tax sums up
to Rs 19.62 lakh. Moreover, property tax worth Rs 2 crore was waived to
favour a construction firm without taking permission from the municipal
commissioner or the general body,” he said.