Pune: PMC tax department to launch special drive to recover tax from defaulters

The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) will be launching a special recovery campaign aimed at taxpayers with property tax arrears, despite previously benefiting from the Abhay Yojana scheme. This initiative comes after alarming information revealed that half of the scheme’s beneficiaries are still in arrears.

The Abhay Yojana, implemented by PMC in 2020-21, aimed to recover property tax arrears by offering penalty and interest waivers. During this period, 1,49,683 defaulting property tax holders availed the scheme and paid their taxes. PMC incurred a loss of Rs. 210 crores due to these waivers. To further boost tax collection, the scheme was reintroduced in 2021-22, and 66,454 defaulting taxpayers took advantage, resulting in another loss of Rs. 64 crores to PMC.

Vivek Velankar, President of Sajjan Nagarik Manch, highlighted the unfairness of these schemes to honest taxpayers and raised concerns through an RTI request. The RTI revealed that a significant number of beneficiaries from both schemes have defaulted again. Specifically, 56,904 of the 2020-21 beneficiaries and 41,500 of the 2021-22 beneficiaries became defaulters by March 2024.

Velankar criticized the repeated introduction of Abhay Yojana, stating it dilutes the integrity of the tax system and is unfair to those who pay taxes on time. He urged that delinquent taxpayers should be excluded from future schemes and that immediate recovery actions be taken.

Madhav Jagtap, Chief of PMC Property Tax Department, confirmed the RTI findings and announced that the information would be forwarded to the Municipal Commissioner. The Commissioner will decide on the appropriate actions against repeated defaulters. Additionally, a special recovery drive will be organized, and the implementation of Abhay Yojana will be discontinued.