MCG has made a record property tax collection of over Rs 500 crore in 2017. This is the highest in the past five years. Officials said the amount collected “is 30% of the total tax collection of Rs 1,400 crore since the formation of the corporation in 2008”. And of the total collection, nearly 50% came from the civic body’s zone 3 that includes upscale areas such as DLF 1-5, Sushant Lok-1, Suncity and condominiums located on Golf Course Road and MG Road. “The corporation has recovered a record collection of Rs 500 crore as property tax in 2017, of which Rs 238 crore came from zone 3. However, over Rs 450 crore is still pending for collection,” an MCG official said. The amount includes revenues collected in the last quarter of the 2016-17 financial year.
Despite the huge collection figures, the corporation is yet to recover Rs 456 crore from various property owners pending for the past several years. “While Rs 150 crore of the total pending amount is for 2017-18, the remaining Rs 306 crore has been pending for the past several years,” the official said. Since the formation of MCG till 2014, the corporation had 11 municipal commissioners but the collection of property tax during the past six years was only Rs 386 crore. The tax collection gained pace after Vikas Gupta took over as municipal commissioner in December 2014, and the figures touched Rs 333 crore, of which Rs 250 crore was from zone 3 only. Gupta had only asked officials to ensure maximum tax recovery and take strict action against defaulters as per norms. After Gupta’s exit, the property tax collection dipped again and only Rs 178 crore could be collected between December 2015 and January 2017.
After senior IAS officer V Umashankar took over as MCG chief in January 2017, property tax collection touched a record Rs 500 crore. The tax collection became a task for the corporation as they had to face stiff challenge from the resident’s welfare associations (RWAs) which were against paying property tax to the corporation “as they’re already paying maintenance charges to the private developers”. “During Umashankar’s tenure, tax recovery officials were strictly directed to ensure maximum property tax recovery and take strict action as per norms to realise tax from property owners. During the previous commissioners, no serious action was taken against the defaulters. Umashankar not only issued notices, but he also initiated sealing and auction proceedings to make the record recovery,” said another senior official.
Courtesy/By: Nandini Tripathy
|
25 Mar 2018
