LUDHIANA: With only a few days left for the fiscal year to end, civic officials are struggling to meet their property tax target. At the beginning of the year, officials claimed that they would recover Rs 200 crore from property tax, but now the target has come down to Rs 154 crore. Of this, officials have recovered only Rs 134 crore.
In a last minute push, officials have started sending text messages and making calls to defaulters, asking them to clear their dues. Those who do not do so will have to pay 20% penalty, which is 10% as of now. They will also have to pay interest.
Officials claimed that people are not coming forward to clear their dues, preferring to wait for a one-time settlement instead. An official said that residents are waiting for a settlement on the lines of the one announced by the govt for adjustment of pending dues from industrial plots in focal points. The official said on condition of anonymity, “At the moment, we are knocking on every possible door, especially the large taxpayers, to achieve targets, but people are not coming on their own.”
Mayor Inderjit Kaur also made an online appeal to taxpayers to clear their pending dues for the sake of development. She said that if residents wanted the MC to provide basic amenities, then they should pay their taxes. Property tax of Rs 160 crore is being proposed in next year’s annual budget. This would be possible only if officials meet this year’s targets.
