The biggest defaulter is Chandigarh Administration, reveals a fresh list compiled by the Chandigarh civic body’s property tax wing. The Chandigarh Administration’s engineering wing from division 1 to 6 owes a whopping Rs 10.80 crore - the maximum any government department defaulter owes - to the civic body. C B Ojha, Chief Engineer, Chandigarh Administration, while speaking to The Indian Express said, "In fact, we were short on budget. Now the new budget is about to come and we will avail the rebate too. So all the dues shall be cleared soon. We got other outstanding amount dropped after we reconciled with them the details with us." The records of government buildings under CP Divisions from 1 to 6 were compiled. The civic body had initially found that a sum of Rs 60.22 crore was due. The reconciliation work by the civic body to find records of the government departments was started in 2021-22. Later, the property tax branch was paid Rs 17.03 crore. Then after notices again, the CP Divisions 1 to 6 deposited Rs 11.60 crore from January to March 2022 (for 2021-22) and a sum of Rs 5.43 crores has been deposited in May 2022, that is for 2022-23 The officials also initially found that Rs 32.38 crore has been “missing credits” during reconciliation process. However, the UT presented receipts that they had cleared this amount. After detailed reconciliation and deposits made by the CP Division 1 to 6, a sum of Rs 10.80 crore, the highest any government department owes, is still pending to be paid by the Chandigarh Administration. According to details, it was found that division one owes Rs 2.51 crore, division 3 owes Rs 2.11 crore, division 4 owes Rs 4.65 crore, division 5 owes Rs 0.25 crore and division 6 owes Rs 1.26 crore. Chandigarh Municipal Commissioner Anindita Mitra had written a demi-official (DO) letter to all the heads of departments of the respective government buildings. On the defaulters, she said, “UT engineering department is constantly reconciling with us and paying as well. But as far as others are concerned, they haven't even got in touch despite sending a DO as well.” She added, “In fact, we are revamping our entire taxation system. We are not just recovering pending payments but also : 1) cleansing our database; 2) ensuring 100% cover of taxpayers and also reconciling with departments; 3) reconciling our database with that of electricity department, water billing and estate office.” The Punjab Mini-Secretariat in Sector 9 owes Rs 83 lakh while Haryana Mini-Secretariat iin Sector 17 too owes about Rs 1.42 crore property tax. However, they cleared the dues in January this year after the DO was sent. While the Central Reserve Police Force, Hallomajra campus, owes Rs 74 lakh, Director Cultural affairs, archives and museums, Punjab, in Sector 38A owes Rs 23 lakh. The general manager, HRTC Workshop, Industrial Area Phase I, Chandigarh, owes Rs 66 lakh, the Labour Commissioner, Haryana, owes Rs 9 lakh. The Principal Accountant General Audit Punjab in Sector 17E, plot number 21, owes Rs 20 lakh. What do missing credits mean When asked about “missing credits” of Rs 32 crore, a senior officer said, “It means that they had paid but the receipts were not available in our records. So we did a joint exercise with the department and reconciled payment and dropped this outstanding amount as they had paid which was substantiated through records submitted by them.” The officer added that “we are not just recovering pending payments but also cleansing the database and ensuring 100% covers of taxpayers and also reconciling with departments”. 2021-22 saw highest single-year recovery The year 2021-22 saw the maximum recovery in terms of the total property tax dues collected, which was Rs 70.44 crore. The amount was Rs 50 crore in 2018-19. An amount of Rs 38.56 crore was recovered in arrears in 2021-22, whereas it was Rs 29.30 crore, Rs 26.34 crore, and Rs 30.29 crore in 2018-19, 2019-20 and 2020-21, respectively, data available with the civic body showed. For 2022-23, the total property tax receipts to date are Rs 61 crore and Rs 25.89 crore. 339 buildings attached in 2022-23 A total of 339 buildings have been attached in the fiscal year 2022-23 thus far, which has accelerated the recovery of dues. The amount involved in these cases was about Rs 2.50 crore, of which Rs 1.42 crore has been recovered from the attachment. There were about 17 sealed properties, of which 13 were de-sealed, following payment of dues. According to the data compiled by the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation, a sector-wise list has been compiled on the pending property tax dues. The attachment of a property is followed by sealing. Sector-wise list A sector-wise list has been prepared by the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation, detailing pending dues. Sector 6 owes a total of Rs 11.69 crore to the civic body. In the outstanding amount, commercial establishments owe Rs 28 crore, while autonomous bodies owe the highest, which is Rs 42.76 crore, followed by government buildings that owe Rs 30.24 crore and institutional ones which owe Rs 31 crore. Industrial bodies owe Rs 8.50 crore.
