PUNE: Property tax defaulters may lose water connections if they fail to clear their dues.
The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) will undertake a drive to disconnect water from today, Jan 2. “The civic administration has formed five flying squads to survey the defaulters, who will be subjected to action. Both commercial and residential properties will be under scrutiny,” said Madhav Jagtap, head of PMC’s property tax department.
The five squads include officials of ward offices, labourers, and plumbers.
PMC officials said, the focus of the drive to cut water will be applicable for residential properties. Other actions, like attaching properties over dues, are not very suitable for housing properties.
Many people own only one residential property and live in the same house. “If attached, it may lead to issues as they will lose the only shelter they have. So, on humanitarian grounds, attaching these properties is avoided. Other stringent actions, such as snapping off the connections, are being explored by the civic body,” said a senior official.
The official said legal advice is taken before such action. The provisions of the MRTP Act and other laws have given powers to the civic body for snapping connection. The property tax department earns PMC approximately between Rs2,000 crore to Rs2,200 crore per year. A target of around Rs2,600 crore has been set for this fiscal.
As per civic officials, they have started a drive to play music bands in front of properties of tax defaulters for recovery. Around Rs60 crore was collected from this drive in about a month’s time.
Around 14.5 lakh properties are under PMC’s tax ambit, of which owners of 8.5 lakh properties have cleared their dues.
