The Panvel City Municipal Corporation (PCMC) is gearing up to take stringent action against property tax defaulters who have not paid their dues, despite multiple amnesty schemes offering discounts in the past.
Municipal Commissioner Ganesh Deshmukh announced that the civic body will soon embark on a campaign to seize the properties of defaulters. Subsequently, a public auction of the confiscated movable or immovable properties will be conducted to recover the outstanding dues.
Simultaneously, the PCMC has undertaken the assessment of around 3.5 lakh properties in the municipal area. As of now, a total of Rs 248 crore has been collected as property tax in the current fiscal year. As per the Maharashtra Municipal Corporation Act, section 128, and schedule D rule 47, the municipality is empowered to sell seized properties for non-payment of property tax or attach them to recover pending dues, and PCMC intends to adhere to these norms.
To facilitate property tax payments, the civic body has implemented various measures. Discounts in penalties ranging from 100% to 25% have been provided for regular property tax payers. Property owners facing issues of natural justice and wanting to appeal against property tax assessment under the Maharashtra Municipal Corporation Act, 1949, have a provision to do so.
In cases of non-payment, a monthly 2% increase in penalties has been enforced, and awareness campaigns have been conducted through loudspeakers in four zones via auto-rickshaws. PCMC has also developed the PCMC Pay Tax app for online property tax payments, and citizens can use panvelmc(dot)org for the same purpose.