Mira-Bhayandar: Saddled with a herculean task of mopping up property tax dues amounting more than ₹82.92 crore in less than three months till March 31, the Mira Bhayandar Municipal Corporation (MBMC) has decided to act tough against defaulters. Apart from sealing 194 properties of chronic defaulters, the civic administration has now rolled up its sleeves to take legal action by registering police cases against those who failed to honour the cheques given towards payment of property tax. Dishonour of a cheque is a criminal offence under section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act 1881 which is punishable by both-imprisonment and fine.
Earlier warnings turn out to be ineffective
However, earlier warnings issued by the MBMC had turned out to be toothless. According to tax officials, property tax defaulters have issued a total of 645 cheques, collectively amounting more than ₹2.15 crore, all were dishonoured in the last nine months (between April 1, 2023 to January 7, 2024) mostly because of insufficient funds in the bank accounts. Ward number four topped the list by receiving 185, followed by ward number six and five with 104 and 97 dud cheques respectively.
FPJ
After receiving notices, around 452 defaulters cleared their dues amounting ₹1.41 crore (along with penalty and cheque bounce charges) by paying cash or using online modes. However, 193 defaulters who collectively owe ₹74.55 lakh are yet to fall-in-line. “A circular has been issued to all ward officers directing immediate action against the defaulters with the help of the legal department,” said tax department chief Chandrakant Borse.
FPJ
Dud cheques submitted to MBMC
Despite being aware about having insufficient balance, the defaulters often issue cheques in order to kill time and pre-empt action like attachment of properties for non-payment. In the last financial year (2022-23), the number of dud cheques were limited to 579 collectively valued at ₹1.47 out of which 535 tax payers cleared their dues amounting ₹1.37 crore.
FPJ
As per the MBMC registry, the total number of taxpayers ( commercial and residential) is currently pegged at 3.58 lakh out of which over 2.54 lakh have cleared their dues even as 1.03 lakh are yet to respond to bills and notices issued by the tax department till January 7, 2024. The MBMC has so far managed to recover a little over ₹149 crore as against the revised target of ₹232 crore. The total collections were limited to ₹149.80 crore in the corresponding period last year.
