Pune: PCMC Commissioner Urges Prompt Payment of Property Taxes, Clarifies on Abhay Yojana
Pimpri Chinchwad, 13th March 2024: The Taxation and Tax Collection Department of the Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) is currently running an intensive campaign for the ongoing demand for property tax and the recovery of arrears. However, citizens inquiring about the implementation of the Abhay Yojana or Late Penalty Waiver Scheme have been informed that it has been permanently discontinued from April 1, 2022. PCMC Commissioner and Administrator Shekhar Singh clarified that property owners with arrears will have to pay the entire tax amount.
Pimpri-Chinchwad city has 6,22,000 registered properties, and the tax collection department aims to collect Rs 1,000 crore in the financial year 2023-24. Various methods, such as confiscating properties of major defaulters, publishing lists in newspapers, cutting off tap water, and announcing defaulters’ names through speakers, are being employed to recover taxes.
The Abhay Yojana, which provided a waiver on late penalties, has been permanently discontinued from April 1, 2022. Commissioner Singh urged property owners with arrears to promptly pay their property taxes, emphasizing that no Abhay Yojana will be implemented in the future.
As of now, 1,04,326 property holders have arrears totalling Rs 682 crore. Assistant Commissioner Nilesh Deshmukh stated that recovering tax arrears is a top priority for the department.
In the financial year 2023-24, the Taxation and Tax Collection Department has already collected over Rs 830 crore by March 13, surpassing the previous record of Rs 811 crore collected in the history of PCMC. The department is working diligently to maximize tax collection in the remaining 18 days of the financial year.
Additionally, 1,634 properties have been seized, and 584 properties have been sealed as part of the efforts to enforce tax compliance.
Commissioner Shekhar Singh urged citizens to cooperate by paying current demand and arrears of property tax for the city’s development, assuring that no penalty will be imposed on defaulters who pay promptly. He emphasized the importance of immediate payment to avoid accumulating additional penalties on arrears.
