PUNE: The civic body, which has been unable to recover tax from big defaulters, has now set its sight on business enterprises in slums. PMC has planned to charge commercial tax from these businesses.
“The civic administration will carry out a survey of the slum areas to gauge the possibility of revenue generation. The bills will be sent to commercial properties in these slums,” said Madhav Jagtap, head of PMC’s property tax department.
The administration hopes to generate around Rs 100 crore from the levy on businesses in slums. There are 486 slums within PMC areas and 71 slums in Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation areas.
Civic activists, however, have pointed out that PMC must first focus on bigger players such as mobile towers and other dues entangled in legal battles. PMC’s property tax dues are a total of around Rs 10,000 crore. Of this, around Rs 3,500 crore is due from mobile towers.
Schemes such as amnesty for property tax should not be a regular affair, said Vivek Velankar of Sajag Nagrik Manch. “Many tax defaulters used the amnesty schemes and again defaulted. The administration should make sure that such defaulters do not get the benefits of these schemes,” he said.
He added that the administration must also introduce initiatives to encourage diligent taxpayers. It would help in their recognition and increase the revenue generation for the civic body.
PMC is charging property tax, which includes general tax, conservancy tax, sewage tax, and street tax under Section 128A(1) of the Maharashtra Municipal Act 1949.
The Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA) was started in 2005 with the aim of expediting slum rehabilitation and reducing the number of slums in cities. Since then, nearly 11,000 slumdwellers, including residential and non-residential, were rehabilitated in the SRA projects under Pune jurisdiction. According to SRA data, 70 projects were completed under its jurisdiction, which includes Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad.
Around 30% of the population now lives in these houses. Most of them are located in densely populated areas. Their rehabilitation is a major concern due to the lack of space in these areas. Most of the residents want to be rehabilitated at the same location.
