Navi Mumbai: To enhance property tax collection, the Panvel Municipal Corporation (PMC) has expanded the number of teams responsible for issuing pre-seizure notices due to non-payment of property taxes. Currently, a total of 10 teams have been deployed for this task.
This increase in the number of teams follows an instruction from the civic chief, Ganesh Deshmukh. According to the civic administration, additional staff were appointed starting November 1 to issue pre-seizure notices to the highest defaulters within the municipal jurisdiction.
Since November 1, 2023, the civic body has issued notices to a total of 750 defaulters, comprising 100 industrial properties, 301 residential properties, and 349 commercial properties across the four nodes: Kharghar, Kalamboli, Kamothe, and Panvel.
Property tax primary source of income for PMC
Property tax stands as the primary source of revenue for the corporation, which funds various municipal projects and initiatives. Importantly, the Bombay High Court has not imposed any restrictions on the civic body's property tax collection efforts. Consequently, the municipal corporation is diligently focusing on property tax collection. A section of residents had approached the High Court against the retrospective property tax collection of the corporation.
To this end, the civic body has initiated the process of issuing notices regarding the attachment and pre-seizure of immovable and movable properties of the highest arrears in industrial, residential, and commercial units that have not paid the corporation's property tax.
Defaulters liable to face penalty in future
In the near future, if property owners who have received pre-seizure notices fail to pay their property taxes, their immovable properties may be subject to auction. The corporation has established ten teams to issue seizure notices across four wards and has also communicated with property owners via SMS.
The current financial year has seen a positive response from property owners, with the civic body having already collected ₹210 crores until November 1. This marks the first instance of such a substantial tax collection within the first seven months of the fiscal year. Over the past four years, a total of ₹485 crores has been recovered. Furthermore, the penalty for non-payment of property tax increases by 2 percent each month, which has encouraged citizens to meet their property tax obligations. Additionally, property owners who opt to pay their taxes online receive a 2 percent discount, excluding government taxes.
