Published On : Sat, Jul 1st, 2017

GST effect: Octroi posts, the main source of income for civic bodies, shut down

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BMC
Nagpur/Mumbai
: Within hours of launch of Good and Service Tax (GST) at the stroke of June 30 midnight, the effects could be sensed. The Octroi Duty, the main source of income for Municipal Corporations in the State, became the first casualty. All the Octroi Posts of Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) including at Vashi, Eroli, Panvel, Mulund, and Dahisar were locked down.

The Octroi Duty was being seen as the biggest source of income for civic bodies. The tax was not only the main source of income for Municipal Corporations but it was also the source of additional income for employees and officials. A number of entities used to evade the Octroi Duty in connivance of babus slyly. Octroi Posts were being dubbed as “breeding ground for corruption.” But with the GST coming into force from July 1, the main source of income ceased to exist not only for civic bodies but the corrupt babus as well.