BMC aims to recover Rs 4,000 crore of Rs 14,000 crore pending dues

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Till date, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has not even managed to recover 50 per cent of the total amount of property tax (Rs 14,000) that people have defaulted on in the past 10 years. Even this year, the civic body plans to recover only Rs 4,000 crore of the pending dues by March. The amount, which was Rs 2,000 crore a decade back, has shot up to Rs 14,000 crore even with the civic body recovering portions of it over periods of time.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, a civic official said, "The BMC is recovering the dues on a timely basis. The amount increased after the tax collection system was changed 10 years back." However, after Octroi was abolished, the civic body shifted its focus to collection of property tax, as it has become a primary source of revenue. In the last financial year (2017-2018), BMC collected Rs 5132.76

crore property tax (includes the recovered amount), followed by Rs 3031.35 crore in 2018-19. The amount collected by December 2017 was Rs 3061.32crore. According to sources, every ward has prepared a list of defaulters, against whom action would be taken this year. The civic body has already started issuing notices for payments, and would soon start warning defaulters about property seizure if the dues remain unpaid. However, the remaining R10,000 crore still remains disputed due to errors and legal procedures.

Civic sources said that while the line of action to be followed this year would remain the same, the focus would mainly be on the G South ward, as people from that area has the highest amount of dues. Developers of several projects in Lower Parel, Prabhadevi and Worli have defaulted on tax payments. Speaking to mid-day, Vijay Balamwar, deputy municipal commissioner, who deals with property tax, said, "We will issue notices and seize properties if defaulters don't make payments. We have already started sending reminder notices for payments. We aim to achieve our revenue generation target by the end of this financial year."

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