Pune Municipal Corporation fills coffers by playing brass band at tax defaulters’ doorstep

Pune: The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has started acting against defaulters who have not paid property tax. A list of such defaulters has been prepared and various means are used to recover dues.

The civic body issued notices to big defaulters. For property owners who have ignored notices, the PMC has hired a brass band team, which visits defaulters’ offices or houses and plays music indicating that they have not paid tax dues. Neighbours and others come to know about this, earning defaulters a poor reputation.

The brass band trick has worked. The PMC has recovered Rs 11.19 crore outstanding property bills in just four days. The drive will continue. Over 8.73 lakh property owners paid their tax bill amounting to Rs 1,800 crore till date.

The property tax is the main source of revenue for the civic body. The Civic Budget has set a target of collecting Rs 2,700 crore property in the current financial year. Out of which Rs 1,800 crore has been collected.

The State Government has decided to set up a separate civic body for Uruali Devachi and Fursungi. It has also directed the PMC to not recover tax dues from the two villages. Thus, Rs 250-300 crore revenue will be reduced. This was revealed by Property Tax Department Deputy Municipal Commissioner Madhav Jagtap.

The brass band team recovery drive was launched on December 1. The PMC has sealed 23 properties, for which the owners ignored multiple notices. Besides the brass band team, the Property Tax Department has formed separate squads to recover property tax dues, said Jagtap.

Jagtap said, “There are 14.80 lakh properties in the city, out of which tax is being recovered from 8.73 lakh property owners by playing the brass band. Till date, Rs 1,800 crore has been collected through various means. The remaining amount of the target will be collected in the next two months.”