PMC collects record property tax in first two months of financial year despite Covid restrictions

A total of Rs 736.12 crore of property tax has been collected from 5,07,755 properties for the current financial year till May 31.

Despite the city being in a state of ‘lockdown-like-restrictions’ due to the Covid-19 surge, the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has collected a record property tax of Rs 736.12 crore in the first two months of the financial year.

According to PMC, a total of Rs 736.12 crore of property tax has been collected from 5,07,755 properties for the current financial year till May 31. The civic body had received Rs 388.24 crore of property tax from 3,21,169 properties till May 31 last year.

“The property tax collection in the first two months of the financial year is very high considering the lockdown situation in the city that affected the financial condition of many due to the restrictions on the economic activity,” said a civic officer.

The PMC has a total of 10.81 lakh properties. The merger of 23 villages in the PMC is going to increase the number of properties in its tax ambit in the current financial year.

The civic body has extended the deadline of discounts in property tax till June 30 instead of May 31 and would charge a penalty from August 1.

The PMC has a budget estimate of Rs 8,370 crore and a revenue target of Rs 2,650 crore from property tax for 2021-22. Last year, the revenue target was Rs 2,603 crore but the PMC could get only Rs 1,700 crore despite launching an amnesty scheme for defaulters.

For 2021-22, the PMC declared a 15 per cent discount scheme for the regular taxpayers who paid the previous year property tax before September 30 last year.

“A total of 4,77,843 residential properties are eligible for the 15 per cent discount in property tax for this year and 3,77,703 of them have paid Rs 284.14 crore of their tax to the civic body so far,” said Pune Municipal Commissioner Vikram Kumar.

There are one lakh other properties that are eligible for the 15 per cent discount in property tax. There have been demands from citizens and corporators to extend the deadline by one month for the discount scheme due to the lockdown in the city. “The civic administration voiced their opinion to extend the deadline for providing a discount in property tax till June 30. It has been approved by the standing committee,” said standing committee chairperson Hemant Rasane.

The citizens have suffered financially due to the lockdown bringing most of the economic activity to a standstill, he said, adding that families with Covid patients have also incurred the cost of treatment.

The extension of the deadline also means the penalty of 2 per cent per month on defaulters will be applied from August 1, said Vilas Kanade, in-charge of the civic property tax department.

Also, 1,01,204 properties with 10 per cent discount and 18,634 properties with 5 per cent discount have paid an amount of Rs 113.77 crore and Rs 316.44 crore respectively so far for 2021-22, he said adding, “The PMC has managed to get 39,828 defaulters back in regular tax cycle through amnesty scheme. They have paid the regular tax of total Rs 86.5 crore for this year so far.”

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