Grappling with I-T notices, Clean Ganga Mission says ‘faceless assessment process has made matters more difficult’

Initially registered as a society on August 12, 2011, under the Societies Registration Act, 1860, the NMCG was later upgraded to an ‘authority’ on October 7, 2016, under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986. Despite this transition, its PAN remained categorised as an Association of Persons (AOP). This led to scrutiny by the I-T department’s software, which flagged it as a high-income entity, resulting in repeated tax notices.

The issue was raised in the joint meetings of the NMCG’s Audit Review Committee (ARC) and Budget Review Committee (BRC). At the recent meeting on February 7, NMCG officials highlighted the ongoing tax concerns.

“Since NMCG’s PAN is in the capacity of ‘Association of Persons’, NMCG has been receiving a number of notices from IT department every year. While the notices for AY 2023-24 & 2024-25 have been resolved, 2 major demands of AY 2022-23 amounting to `243.74 crore are pending. NMCG has contested the orders and is in the process of filing appeals against the assessment order,” stated the minutes of the meeting circulated on March 11.

“The committee was informed that the NMCG is unable to take the advantage of Section 10 (46) notification under the IT Act, even though NMCG was notified vide notification dated 26 March 2024 as a Government Authority for the AY 2021-22 to 2023-2024, as the RoIs for the said years had already been filed. Further, the faceless assessment process has made matters more difficult,” it noted.

The NMCG did not respond to requests for comment.

“CBDT has been requested vide application dated 15th January 2025 to permit NMCG to revise its IT returns. An application has also been filed to extend the notification u/s 10 (46) beyond AY 2023-24 on 31 May 2024, followed by a DO from DG- NMCG to CBDT Chairman on 20th January 2025,” the minutes noted.

Two years ago, NMCG had mulled to amend its PAN after being picked up by the I-T’s scrutiny software as a high-income entity.