Pune: Property tax defaulters and total dues more than double in one year

Both the number of defaulters having over ₹1 crore in property tax dues and the total amount of dues has more than doubled from last year to this year, a Right to Information (RTI) query has found

Both the number of defaulters having over ₹1 crore in property tax dues and the total amount of dues has more than doubled from last year to this year, a Right to Information (RTI) query has found.

Both the number of defaulters having over ₹1 crore in property tax dues and the total amount of dues has more than doubled from last year to this year, a Right to Information (RTI) query has found. (REPRESENTATIVE IMAGE)

Civic activist Vivek Velenkar sought the information under the RTI Act and found that till December 12 this year, the total number of tax defaulters had reached 1,065 with their dues reaching ₹3,330 crore. Whereas a RTI query by Velenkar for the corresponding period last year had found the total number of tax defaulters to be 474 and their dues to be ₹1,218 crore, he said.

“I sought the same information last year and found that there were 474 defaulters having more than 1 crore in property tax dues. Within a period of one year, the number of defaulters having more than ₹1 crore in property tax dues has increased from 474 to 1,065 and the total amount of property tax dues has increased from ₹1,218 crore to ₹3,330 crore,” Velenkar said.

An officer of the property tax department on condition of anonymity said, “Most of the big defaulters have gone to court. Due to legal issues, the PMC is not able to recover the dues. Another reason for the rise in dues is that every year, the interest amount is getting added.”