August 31, 2012 4:13:14 am
The decision on giving an exemption in octroi to PMPML will be taken by the standing committee in the next meeting.
PMPML plan to recover its losses by seeking an exemption in octroi for spare parts and fuel purchase annually is likely to be turned down. The civic administration has pointed out that it is a commercial public transport and any facility to them would encourage others to seek the same.
The decision on giving an exemption in octroi to PMPML will be taken by the standing committee in the next meeting on Tuesday.
The PMPML had tabled a proposal in the civic standing committee that it was incurring losses in revenue and if it has to recover it then a fare hike would be inevitable. However,the fare hike plan was opposed by citizens groups.
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The public transport system as an alternative to reduce losses has urged the PMC to exempt octroi charged on spare parts and fuel bought by the PMPML for its fleet.
The exemption in octroi will help the civic body reduce its losses and in turn will enable that there is not much of a fare hike, said Prashant Jagtap,Chairperson of PMPML.
The committee had referred the proposal to civic administration for their opinion. In its reply,municipal commissioner Mahesh Pathak had mentioned the public transport helps reduce traffic chaos and pollution in the city by providing transport to the citizens.
However,the demand for exemption in octroi cannot be accepted. The PMPML is a commercial public transport and giving such a facility to them will not be possible. If at all they are given an exemption in octroi then other organisations such as MSRTC and the state public transport would also seek such benefits, he said.
Pathak also clarified that any such decision of exemption in octroi can be taken by the standing committee and the general body,but could be implemented only after the clearance from the state government.
The PMPML had its account in PMC for paying octroi,but it was closed in 2010 and now the civic body gets Rs 1lakh every month as octroi from PMPML,he said adding the PMPML has to pay Rs 7.3 crore to the civic body as octroi dues.
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