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Time of India
01-07-2025
- Business
- Time of India
PMC extends property tax discount deadline to July 7
1 2 3 Pune: The civic body on Monday extended the deadline for paying property tax at discounted rates to July 7 from the previous date of June 30. According to PMC officials, citizen facilitation centres (CFCs) will be open for residents to pay this tax in person. "The administration has also provided an online facility for the ease of taxpayers. Property owners should ensure that they pay the tax on time and avoid a last-minute rush," said Avinash Sapkal, head of property tax department of Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC). The civic body offers a 5-10% discount on payment of tax to property owners who shell out the levy by May 31. This year, PMC gave an additional month for this payment at discounted rates due to a delay in distribution of bills. Now, an extra week has been added to the same. You Can Also Check: Pune AQI | Weather in Pune | Bank Holidays in Pune | Public Holidays in Pune Meanwhile, many property taxpayers reported glitches on the official website. Further, activists have demanded that PMC provide even more time to pay this at discounted rates. They claimed that the mismanagement caused the delay in distribution of bills, which was not sorted out even during the extended period till June 30. "PMC made it mandatory to fill up PT3 forms to avail of tax discount. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Gentle Japanese hair growth method for men and women's scalp Hair's Rich Learn More Undo But despite finishing the process, many taxpayers are facing approval issues. It is causing complications. More time for them is justified," said Ujwal Keskar of Aaple Pune, a citizens' group. PMC has collected around Rs1,244.50 crore till June 30 from owners of 7.10 lakh properties, who paid the tax between April 1 and June 30 this year. According to civic officials, revenue generation of PMC overall has dropped for the first quarter of the financial year 2025-26 as compared to 2024-25. PMC received around Rs100 crore less than last year's revenue generation till June 30, 2024, when the corporation had mopped around Rs1,350. Issues with merged areas The delay in the recovery of property tax from properties in merged areas has also adversely impacted the revenue. Local residents in these areas have long been demanding that PMC reduce the property tax rates post-merger. State govt has also directed a cap on charging "maximum two times property tax compared to what locals were paying when they were in gram panchayat". However, according to PMC officials, the state has not given any clarity about rateable values and other formulas to charge the rates as per its directives. Now, PMC officials said the administration may come up with an amnesty scheme for these merged areas. Pune: The civic body on Monday extended the deadline for paying property tax at discounted rates to July 7 from the previous date of June 30. According to PMC officials, citizen facilitation centres (CFCs) will be open for residents to pay this tax in person. "The administration has also provided an online facility for the ease of taxpayers. Property owners should ensure that they pay the tax on time and avoid a last-minute rush," said Avinash Sapkal, head of property tax department of Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC). The civic body offers a 5-10% discount on payment of tax to property owners who shell out the levy by May 31. This year, PMC gave an additional month for this payment at discounted rates due to a delay in distribution of bills. Now, an extra week has been added to the same. Meanwhile, many property taxpayers reported glitches on the official website. Further, activists have demanded that PMC provide even more time to pay this at discounted rates. They claimed that the mismanagement caused the delay in distribution of bills, which was not sorted out even during the extended period till June 30. "PMC made it mandatory to fill up PT3 forms to avail of tax discount. But despite finishing the process, many taxpayers are facing approval issues. It is causing complications. More time for them is justified," said Ujwal Keskar of Aaple Pune, a citizens' group. PMC has collected around Rs1,244.50 crore till June 30 from owners of 7.10 lakh properties, who paid the tax between April 1 and June 30 this year. According to civic officials, revenue generation of PMC overall has dropped for the first quarter of the financial year 2025-26 as compared to 2024-25. PMC received around Rs100 crore less than last year's revenue generation till June 30, 2024, when the corporation had mopped around Rs1,350. Issues with merged areas The delay in the recovery of property tax from properties in merged areas has also adversely impacted the revenue. Local residents in these areas have long been demanding that PMC reduce the property tax rates post-merger. State govt has also directed a cap on charging "maximum two times property tax compared to what locals were paying when they were in gram panchayat". However, according to PMC officials, the state has not given any clarity about rateable values and other formulas to charge the rates as per its directives. Now, PMC officials said the administration may come up with an amnesty scheme for these merged areas.
Time of India
27-06-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Delay in tax recovery from merged areas hampers PMC's revenue generation
1 2 3 Pune: Delay in recovery of tax from properties in 32 merged areas under PMC is hampering overall revenue generation of the civic administration. Residents of these areas have been demanding that the civic administration reduce property tax rates. The state govt has put a cap on charging "maximum of twice the property tax compared to what the residents were paying when they were under gram panchayat" but the nitty-gritty of the implementation has not been worked out by the state govt, claimed PMC. According to civic officials, the state has not provided any clarity on rateable values and other formulas to charge rates as per its directives. "So, we are charging property tax as per standard methods. The revenue generation is very limited from these areas because many property owners have not paid taxes," said a senior official of Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC). You Can Also Check: Pune AQI | Weather in Pune | Bank Holidays in Pune | Public Holidays in Pune The corporation received around Rs 350 crore lessthan last year from property levy due to issues of tax recovery in newly-added areas. The civic administration may come up with an amnesty scheme for these areas, as the state on Wednesday gave new directives to introduce such a scheme for merged locations. The administration earned around Rs1,350 crore till the end of June 2024, which has gone down to Rs1,000 crore this year. "Many property owners, who have not paid tax yet, will pay their dues by the end of month to avail themselves of the benefit of tax discount. The civic administration hopes to see an increase in revenue in next three to four days," said a senior official of PMC. According to activists, apart from delay in recovery from merged areas, even the complications caused due to implementation of 40% tax rebate in connection with PT3 forms have also adversely impacted PMC's income. "Many property owners are getting tax discounts because of issues related to PT3 forms despite being eligible to get the benefit. The administration should give more time for paying the tax at the discounted rates," said Ujwal Keskar of Aaple Pune, Apala Parisar organisation. Minister of state for urban development Madhuri Misal said on Thursday that PMC had been told to submit a proposal to the state govt for property tax calculations for merged areas. Citizens from these areas have claimed that the tax proposed by the civic administration was "higher" than the tax imposed by the gram panchayat before the merger. The citizens are not ready to accept the tax calculation; hence, PMC has been asked to re-draft a proposal and submit the same to the state govt. According to residents, if the tax is charged at the civic administration's rate, the tax amount will go up at least by five times. Along with the residential properties, even the commercial establishments will have to pay additional tax. The residents of the merged villages are apprehensive about paying increased property tax. According to property owners, Rs 2 per square foot is charged on an average as property tax per annum by the gram panchayat. The civic body charges Rs 2 per month. Effectively, the tax amount per square foot went up to around Rs 24 per year when they were merged into PMC. The same situation is likely to repeat in the 23 merged villages. PMC data show that the civic areas had around 8.5 lakh properties prior to 2017. After the merger of 11 villages, the number has gone up to around 10 lakh. Nearly 2 lakh properties have been added to the tax ambit of PMC after the merger of 23 villages. The total number of properties under PMC limits is 12 lakh. Pune: Delay in recovery of tax from properties in 32 merged areas under PMC is hampering overall revenue generation of the civic administration. Residents of these areas have been demanding that the civic administration reduce property tax rates. The state govt has put a cap on charging "maximum of twice the property tax compared to what the residents were paying when they were under gram panchayat" but the nitty-gritty of the implementation has not been worked out by the state govt, claimed PMC. According to civic officials, the state has not provided any clarity on rateable values and other formulas to charge rates as per its directives. "So, we are charging property tax as per standard methods. The revenue generation is very limited from these areas because many property owners have not paid taxes," said a senior official of Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC). The corporation received around Rs 350 crore lessthan last year from property levy due to issues of tax recovery in newly-added areas. The civic administration may come up with an amnesty scheme for these areas, as the state on Wednesday gave new directives to introduce such a scheme for merged locations. The administration earned around Rs1,350 crore till the end of June 2024, which has gone down to Rs1,000 crore this year. "Many property owners, who have not paid tax yet, will pay their dues by the end of month to avail themselves of the benefit of tax discount. The civic administration hopes to see an increase in revenue in next three to four days," said a senior official of PMC. According to activists, apart from delay in recovery from merged areas, even the complications caused due to implementation of 40% tax rebate in connection with PT3 forms have also adversely impacted PMC's income. "Many property owners are getting tax discounts because of issues related to PT3 forms despite being eligible to get the benefit. The administration should give more time for paying the tax at the discounted rates," said Ujwal Keskar of Aaple Pune, Apala Parisar organisation. Minister of state for urban development Madhuri Misal said on Thursday that PMC had been told to submit a proposal to the state govt for property tax calculations for merged areas. Citizens from these areas have claimed that the tax proposed by the civic administration was "higher" than the tax imposed by the gram panchayat before the merger. The citizens are not ready to accept the tax calculation; hence, PMC has been asked to re-draft a proposal and submit the same to the state govt. According to residents, if the tax is charged at the civic administration's rate, the tax amount will go up at least by five times. Along with the residential properties, even the commercial establishments will have to pay additional tax. The residents of the merged villages are apprehensive about paying increased property tax. According to property owners, Rs 2 per square foot is charged on an average as property tax per annum by the gram panchayat. The civic body charges Rs 2 per month. Effectively, the tax amount per square foot went up to around Rs 24 per year when they were merged into PMC. The same situation is likely to repeat in the 23 merged villages. PMC data show that the civic areas had around 8.5 lakh properties prior to 2017. After the merger of 11 villages, the number has gone up to around 10 lakh. Nearly 2 lakh properties have been added to the tax ambit of PMC after the merger of 23 villages. The total number of properties under PMC limits is 12 lakh.
Time of India
19-05-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
Uruli Devachi, Phursungi demerger may shrink number of corporators in PMC
1 2 Pune: Concern is brewing over the number of corporators in Pune Municipal Corporation once the civic elections, based on the 2011 census when the city's population was 31.5 lakh, are announced. It will rely on figures that are 14 years old and does not factor in an increase in the number of people after 11 merged areas with a headcount of approximately 1.5 lakh and 23 previously merged areas with around 2.5 lakh people were added to PMC, taking the total population in the old and new parts to approximately 35.5 lakh. According to the amended provisions of Bombay Provincial Municipal Corporation Act of 1949, updated in 2016, a municipal corporation with a population of 30 lakh will have 161 corporators with an additional corporator for every subsequent 1 lakh people. Following this rule, PMC should have five more corporators, bringing the total to 166 in the upcoming civic election. However, the dynamics of Uruli Devachi and Phursungi, added to the civic limits in 2017 and demerged in 2024, may adversely impact the number of corporators since the population in both merged areas and their voters will not be counted. It will shrink the number of elected members in the civic body, political experts said. Civic officials have not ruled out this possibility but claimed that a clarification from the Election Commission and state govt is awaited. Experts said fewer corporators may lead to inadequate representation of a growing population and burden the elected members who cannot well represent the area. Ujwal Keskar of Aple Pune, Pune Parisar, a citizen's forum, said PMC will have more elected members if figures of the projected population are used for calculating the number of corporators. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like They Lost Their Money - Learn From Their Lesson Expertinspector Click Here Undo "Authorities often use projected population figures for various policies and decisions like the allotment of water quota. The same can be used for defining the number of corporators in the absence of the latest census. The required legal amendment can be done," he added. The new population, which will be a part of PMC after the merger, should get adequate representation. Sunil Parkhi, former PMC municipal secretary, said, "Guidelines in the municipal corporations' act indicate how to calculate the number of elected members. The change in the law at the state level will be necessary if representation is to be increased." Ganesh Dhore, former elected member of PMC who represented Uruli Devachi-Phursungi areas in the PMC after the by-election in 2021, said if the number of corporators shrinks it is not a good sign. "Our villages were on the path of progress when they were in PMC areas. Elected representatives raised issues in the standing committee and general body meetings. It helped start some long-term infrastructural projects for our areas. The demerger and reduction of representatives from our areas will do more harm than good," he said. Locals and elected members said when the two areas were part of PMC, they were under a governing body with A category. But after the demerger, Uruli Devachi and Phursungi areas are under a category B local self-governing body. Such a classification creates obstacles in generating funds. Projects like the overhaul of the drainage system and restructuring of the water supply network will be put on the backburner. "If the two areas would have been part of the PMC, it could have helped resolve problems on a large scale. Issues pertaining to funds would have been eased out. It was possible to get more representation of our areas in the corporation. More corporators would have been elected," Ranjit Raskar, a resident of Uruli Devachi and Phursungi areas, said. Other residents of merged areas said years have gone by after the merger, but citizens have not got basic facilities like drinking water. Poor road infrastructure also prevails in most areas. The administration must focus on these issues as a priority. head: What's In It For Fringe Areas? Civic officials said the initial proposal for merging 34 villages was approved in 2013-14 Following court instructions, PMC incorporated 11 villages into its jurisdiction in 2017 Nine villages were partially merged and Uruli Devachi and Phursungi were fully integrated PMC expanded to become the largest municipal corporation in the state after including 23 villages in July 2021 In September 2024, Uruli Devachi-Phursungi underwent a demerger Locals sought improved amenities from both civic authorities and the state administration Several resident groups advocated demerger of their areas State initiated the demerger process for Uruli Devachi and Phursungi Subsequently, these two villages received their own municipal council PMC had two elected members from both areas. Now, they have a separate municipal council, and people here will not get any representation in the civic body. These areas will not be considered for the delimitation process for the civic poll A senior PMC official said
