The Panvel Municipal Corporation (PMC) has served 108 attachment notices in the last two days to property tax defaulters as part of its crackdown, and the move has started yielding results. The defaulters have started clearing their dues, with the concerned associations assuring compliances by their members.
The civic body had published a list of 101 industrial, 107 non-residential and 100 residential defaulters in newspapers earlier this month. It has identified 3.5 lakh properties in all the four wards in its jurisdiction, of which 77,000 property owners have paid their taxes. The remaining 2.80 lakh defaulters are now on the PMC radar.
The civic body has recovered ₹550 crore in property tax dues since it began its collection. In the present financial year, it has so far collected ₹262 crore and ₹7 crore since it started issuing the notices this month. “The PMC has been regularly giving incentives to residents and appealing to them to pay their taxes,” said municipal commissioner Ganesh Deshmukh. “Enough time has been given, and it is time now to take action against the defaulters. We have hence started attachment proceedings.”
Forty-eight attachment notices were issued on Monday and 60 on Tuesday to all the wards. These included 33 notices to non-residential defaulters in Kharghar and two to industries besides nine to residential defaulters in Kamothe. In New Panvel and Khanda colony, notices were issued to 25 defaulters, four commercial defaulters in Panvel, 13 industries in the MIDC area and 15 commercial establishments in the Kalamboli marble market.
Explained Deshmukh, “There is a provision in the Maharashtra Municipal Corporation Act which gives power to the civic body to seize or attach moveable and immovable properties and then auction them to recover the tax dues. We have decided to use these powers to recover the dues.”
Deshmukh said that no transactions on the properties would now be permitted, and stickers declaring this had been pasted on the properties of the major defaulters. “They have been given seven days to pay their dues,” he said. “Thereafter, we will issue warrants through the four ward officers.”
Read more at: Hindustan Times
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