Nagpur: At a time when Nagpur Municipal Corporation has launched an extensive drive to recover property tax from domestic consumers, a major tax default by rural regional transport office has come to the fore. The rural RTO, which is about to move in its new building has reportedly defaulted on property tax worth Rs 7 crore. The NMC’s tax department has asked the RTO (Nagpur rural), Teka Naka to clear the dues before March 31 this year.
The outstanding tax has been estimated to lying unpaid since 2012.
On the RTO front, it is learnt that the department has approached the transport commisisoner’s office in Mumbai for making a provision to clear the tax dues.
Sources said that the constant delay in construction of new buiding has forced rural RTO to owe property tax of two premises – existing Lalgodam office and new under construction building.
At present the rural RTO is running from Food Corporation of India godown in Teka Naka area on a monthly rent of Rs 25000. The office was shifted to FCI godown in 2008. The godown was taken on rent since April 2006 and it has continued. So far the transport department has paid over Rs 40 lakh as rent to the FCI. Besides this, the transport department is also paying Rs 70,000 property tax per annum of the said premises.
Sources said after much delay, in 2014 the government sanctioned the proposal to construct own building for rural RTO. The project cost has already gone up from Rs5.13 crore to Rs15 crore now. The deadline for completing the three-storey building was October 2015. Still it is not being completed.
The building is almost ready only electrification work and installation of escalator is pending.
Rural RTO office, which is also a regional head office in Vidarbha, not only caters to motorists of 13 tehsil places of the district including Hingna, Saoner, Parsheoni, Mouda, Ramtek, Umrer, Bhivapur, Katol and Butibori, but also covers Gondia, Bhandara, Chandrapur, and Gadchiroli districts.
