The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has failed to reach an agreement with the Khadki and Pune cantonment boards over the payment of octroi charges to them after the two cantonment boards have started to press for an increase in the monthly tax share. According to officials. the PMC has not paid the share of octroi to the cantonment boards from April this year as they have been seeking at least hundrend per cent hike in the present monthly payments. The matter has been recently taken up with the PMC -that the octroi charges should be increased, said KCB vice president Manish Anand. According to officials PMC has not renewed the ten-y ear old contract for the payment of octroi charges to the KCB after it expired this April. Each month PMC used to pay Rs 1-cr ore to the KCB and almost the similar amount is being paid to the PCB. Officials say that they were seeking a revision in the share of taxes commensurate with the population of cantonment boards . Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the PCB,Rachel Koshy,refused to comment. PMC Commissioner,Mahesh Zagade,however said that he needs to consult his subordinate staff who deal with the collection of octroi on the issue.However with the PMC delaying the payment of Octrio charges to the cantonment boards,members have been seeking that the cantonment boards should collect the revenue on their own. PCB member Shailender Bitkar said he and other elected members of the cantonment board had stressed that the cantonment board should press for early payment of octrio charges by the PMC. The delay in payment of octroi is giving a loss to the cantonment board, said,Bitkar. PCB member,Aarti Mahajan,said that the cantonment board should collect the octroi on its own. From the octroi charges which the PMC collects they deduct water charges for supply of water to the residents of the cantonment area. We should settle the issue of payment of water charges with the Corporation once and for all and make them the payments and collect the octroi charges on our own, she said. There are big factories in the cantonment area and once we collect the octrio charges on our own we will be able to earn more money that what the PMC is giving us,she added. Anand,said the KCB may invoke the cantonment act to collect the octroi charges on its own. There are provisions within the cantonment act that the KCB can collect the octroi charges on its own.
