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As polling ends, Ludhiana MC officials to resume action against tax defaulters
Different branches of the Ludhiana MC, including the property-tax wing, water-sewer branch (operations and maintenance cell) and building branch, have been directed to make lists of defaulters and initiate action against them. They were not able to take action earlier as they remained busy with polling, said the mayor.
With polling coming to a close, the fund-starved Ludhiana municipal corporation has resumed action against tax defaulters.
Different branches of the civic body, including the property-tax wing, water-sewer branch (operations and maintenance cell) and building branch, have been directed to make lists of defaulters and initiate action against them.
An official, requesting anonymity, stated that the MC’s recovery drive was affected due to the imposition of the Model Code of Conduct on January 8. “The ruling Congress did not wish to invite flak from public ahead of elections, so they were going slow on action,” revealed the official.
Financial crisis
As per information, the civic body is currently in a deep financial mess and if the authorities fail to expedite the recoveries, they will struggle to even pay the salaries of the employees. The monthly salary expenditure of the MC runs into ₹25 crore, and it could reach ₹33 crore with the implementation of the pay commission recommendations.
MC branches struggling to meet recovery targets
Sources say different branches of the MC are struggling to meet the annual recovery targets. The property tax wing has recovered over ₹78 crore, against the target of ₹110 crore so far. The operations and maintenance cell (O&M cell) has recovered only around ₹34 crore against the target of ₹90 crore. O&M cell recovers water-sewer charges from residents. By this time last year, the property tax wing had recovered ₹75 crore, while the O&M cell had recovered over 51 crores.
Officials stated that there are a large number of property owners who have failed to pay tax since 2013-14, apart from the defaulters of the current year. If they fail to pay up, the MC won’t shy away from sealing the building and snapping water-sewer connections.
Mayor Balkar Sandhu said the recovery drive was hit as majority of the MC officials were deputed on election duty.
1.25 lakh property owners yet to pay tax for current year
As per MC officials, there are around 2.5 lakh taxable properties in the city and the owners of around 1.25 lakh properties have failed to pay tax for the current financial year (2021-22).
As per the one-time settlement policy, notified by the local bodies department in the past, the defaulters for the current year (2021-22) can avail 15% rebate on penalty and 6% rebate on annual interest charged on pending payment, if the dues are cleared by March 31, 2022. After March 31, 20% penalty and 18% annual interest of pending payment will be charged.
Hiked water-sewer bills to be delivered
While the MC has been stalling the delivery of the hiked water-sewer bills ahead of elections, it has now resumed the work now that polling is over.
The MC General House had approved a resolution to hike the water-sewer tariff for different categories, including residential, commercial and industrial, by up to 60% in November 2020 and revoked the exemption for residential buildings with area up to 125 sq yards. The exemption was however, reintroduced and residential monthly water tariff was reduced to ₹50 by the incumbent Congress party with an eye on elections.
