Nagpur: In a major policy announcement, Deputy Chief Minister Mr Devendra Fadnavis said that the government will take a decision to cancel the arrears of penalty tax arrears imposed on the illegal constructions in Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation limits with the consent of the Chief Minister.
However, Mr Fadnavis made it clear that the penalty tax imposed as per the section 267 (A) of the Maharashtra Municipal Corporation Act on illegal constructions in Pimpri-ChinchwadMunicipal Corporation limits will be strictly enforced from now on.
96,777 unauthorised constructions
Mr Fadnavis intervened during a discussion on calling attention to a motion moved by MLA Mr Mahesh Langde. There were about 96,777 unauthorised constructions that owe the penaltytax. The properties subject to penalty for illegal construction have a total penalty tax arrears of Rs 814 crore in the current year comprising property tax of Rs 346.81 crore and penalty tax of Rs 467.65 crore. There is an increase of about Rs 102 crores per year in arrears which means that the arrears of the municipal tax collection department will go up to Rs 1000 crore in the coming financial years.
Mr Fadnavis said that the government will come out with a plan to regularize the illegal constructions in Pimpri-Chinchwad area and action will be taken as per the order of the court. ‘’Penalty tax will be waived up to 1,000 sq ft and also a penalty of 50 percent was imposed on illegal constructions from 1,000 to 2,000 square feet and twice the property tax on illegal constructions above 2,000 square feet,’’ he added.
‘’Existing constructions in violation of the provisions of the Development Plan or Development Control Regulations shall be regularized subject to the decision of the Court. Until then, basic taxwill be collected without penalty tax, and satellite mapping of the district will be done to prevent illegal construction in the future,’’ said Mr Fadnavis.
Implementation needs to be done properly: Opposition
The leader of opposition Mr Ajit Pawar demanded that the decision with regard to cancellation of penalty tax should be implemented properly. He further added that it should be applied to the villages newly incorporated in the municipal limits.
According to Section 267 (A) of the Maharashtra Municipal Corporation Act, illegal constructions on and after January 4, 2008 were penalised twice the property tax payable. However, as per the government decision dated March 8, 2019, the penalty was waived for residential properties up to 1,000 sq ft and Residential constructions between 1,000 and 2,000 sq ft are penalized at the rate of 50 percent of property tax per annum. Also, residential constructions above 2,000 sq ft are being penalized at twice the rate of property tax per annum. Remaining non-residential, mixed, industrial properties are penalized at double the rate.
Mr Langde demanded that the demand has been pending for a long and urged the cancellation of arrears on the floor of the assembly today.
