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PMC puts 46 properties on auction for tax dues
PMC will auction 46 properties to recover ₹11 crore in unpaid property taxes. Last year, only 2 out of 50 properties sold as most defaulters paid last-minute.
The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) will be auctioning off 46 properties to recover ₹11 crore dues from property tax defaulters. Last year, the civic body had announced a public auction of 50 properties but managed to sell only two, as most of the defaulters cleared the dues at the eleventh hour.
As many as 38 property defaulters currently face the possibility of police action for unpaid taxes. Most of the defaulters had approached the court due to which the payment is in abeyance contributing to the rising number of defaulters and default amount.
PMC deputy commissioner Madhav Jagtap said, “We had seized the properties of those defaulters where there are no legal cases involved. Such property holders were issued notices for payment which they did not do. Hence the PMC has started the process of auctioning those properties to recover the dues.”
The civic body auctions off properties whose owners fail to clear the tax arrears despite several warnings. A penalty of 2 per cent per month on the principal amount is levied on the non-payment of property tax. A notice is sent to those who fail to pay tax after the financial year ends.
In June 2023, the PMC sealed some properties for unauthorised construction in Dhayari, Vadgaon Budruk, Vadgaon Khurd, Ambegaon Khurd, Ambegaon Budruk and Narhe and served a notice to pay the property tax. Many of the owners failed to pay, following which the properties were sealed and seized. The violations included an illegal increase in margins of restaurants and hotels, terraces, unauthorised godowns and industrial properties and establishing sports units without permission from the PMC and earning huge revenues over them.
The bid winners will have to pay 20 per cent of the amount within two days of the auction and the remaining balance within a fortnight. If the property owner clears the dues and cost of the auction in 15 days, then the bid winner will be repaid the amount deposited with PMC, stated the property tax department officials monitoring the auction.
