Journalism of Courage
With a mere Rs 70 crore coming in two months since octroi was abolished and local body tax (LBT) introduced,the Pune Municipal Corporation (pmc) may have a tough time implementing projects passed in the civic budget.
LBT is not matching the revenue octroi had yielded. With LBT from traders falling way short of the octroi collection of around Rs 100 crore a month,the civic administration is looking at LBT from property deals to enhance revenues.
Revenue from LBT has been low compared to the expectation that collection will be equivalent to octroi. Octroi collection was over Rs 100 crore per month. The situation is grave now. We have to be cautious while spending civic money, said PMC chief accountant Ulka Kalaskar.
She said that all civic departments have felt the impact of LBT and they are cooperating in financial management by taking appropriate steps to control expenditure.
No major project has been started this year so far,Kalaskar said. But there are big projects that are on and will continue. To overcome a possible shortfall in LBT,the department concerned has been asked to get LBT collected by the state registration office from property dealings. The amount of Rs 48 crore is quite big and would help PMC overcome a possible shortage, she added.
Joint Municipal Commissioner Vilas Kanade said poor LBT collection is a big concern for civic administration.
We will begin action against traders not registering under LBT. The civic administration is fully prepared for taking up the exercise and will initiate action as per law, he said.
The civic staff will physically verify documents of each trader,Kanade said adding that the exact number of traders coming under LBT will be clear after the administration completes physical verification of documents.
