Nagpur: The much-touted Amnesty Schemes launched by the Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) to recover property and water tax dues flopped miserably. The schemes ended on March 31 with a very bleak response. Against its target of recovering Rs 450 crore from defaulters of property and water tax, and shop tenants, the civic body could barely manage to recover a paltry Rs 85 crore, local media reported.
Notably, on January 2, NMC Administrator and Municipal Commissioner Abhijeet Chaudhari had announced an 80% rebate in interest levied for defaulters of property tax, water bills, and rents from shops. Of these three categories, NMC’s Property Tax Department managed to earn Rs 70 crore.
According to the report, the NMC revealed that 2.72 lakh property tax defaulters owe Rs 300 crore to the civic body, while 4,300 shopkeepers defaulted on Rs 22 crore in shop rent, and 1.53 lakh users of water owe over Rs 100 crore to the NMC.
In the last three months, the Property Tax Department has generated Rs 70 crore from 1 lakh defaulters, underlining that over 1.72 lakh defaulters still did not avail the benefits of the scheme. The response from water defaulters was very poor. The department managed to recover only Rs 14.23 crore from the defaulters. The situation is very poor in the estate department too. Against Rs 22 crore dues, the department received zero response.
According to NMC sources, as defaulters were aware that the NMC could not initiate any punitive action due to the election year, they paid no heed to clearing the outstanding taxes. The Property Tax Department, however, has for the first time in recent years achieved 104.66% of its annual target. Against the target of Rs 300 crore, it recovered Rs 314 crore in the last financial year 2023-24. The Property Tax Department’s recovery includes Rs 70 crore from the amnesty scheme.
Of the 10 zones, seven zones have achieved a 100% target, and they include Laxmi Nagar, Dharampeth, Mangalwari, Nehru Nagar, Gandhibagh, Satranjipura, and Hanuman Nagar, respectively. Against the target of Rs 250 crore, the Water Works Department has generated Rs 210 crore, including Rs 14 crore from the amnesty scheme.
