Full penalty waiver to over 1,500 residents who paid original tax in last 3 days

“Only those who pay the original property tax on the illegal constructions will get the benefit of penalty waiver. For instance, if the original property tax is Rs one lakh and penalty tax levied on it is 1.5 lakh, then the owner of such illegal structure will have to pay Rs one lakh first to get the benefit of waiver of Rs 1.5 lakh,” Deshmukh said, adding the original outstanding property tax stands at Rs 311 crore. “Rs 460 crore will be waived if Rs 311 crore are paid on 97,000 illegal structures,” he added.

The penalty tax system came into being more than 10 years ago. Since then, PCMC has been able to collect only Rs 106 crore in property tax. “The pending penalty on 97,000 illegal construction is to the tune of Rs 460 crore. The government has now waived this amount,” Deshmukh said.

Deshmukh said the waiver of penalty tax does not mean the illegal constructions will be regularised. “The GR clearly states that the waiver does not mean that the illegal structures will be regularised once the original tax is paid,” he said.

In December, Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis had announced that the state government will waive off the penalty (on unauthorised structures) in PCMC limits. He also promised the structures would be regularised by taking into consideration the order issued by the courts in this regard. Fadnavnis’s response had come after Bhosari MLA Mahesh Landge raised the issue of illegal structures and imposition of penalty.