Amritsar MC offices to remain open on March 30, 31 for property tax

Charanjit Singh Teja

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Amritsar, March 28

With just two days left to pay property tax dues for the current session, Citizen Facilitation Centres will remain open on Saturday and Sunday to accept the tax payment. The property tax wing collected Rs 36.27 crore till today in the evening against a target of Rs 45 crore. The MC has collected this amount from 1.16 lakh property tax returns (PTR) of 55,000 buildings. Despite efforts, the property tax wing of MC is far from achieving the recovery targets fixed by the Department of Local Bodies. A large number of residents, who own properties, do not pay tax. Even the MC failed to recover tax from commercial units in the city.

For the convenience of residents, the Citizen Facilitation Centres (CFC) located at the Municipal Corporation head office in Ranjit Avenue and all zonal offices will remain open for collecting property tax. MC officials appealed to the people to deposit their property tax dues. Vishal Wadhawan, Nodal Officer for property tax, stated that those paying their tax after March 31 will have to pay a huge penalty and interest. He said that after March 31, 20 per cent penalty and interest will have to be paid. He said that the properties of defaulters will also be sealed in the month of April. MC officials stated that there is also a provision to disconnect water supply, sewerage and electricity connections of property tax defaulters.

The MC officials urged residents to take advantage of the One Time Settlement (OTS) scheme of licence fees too. Wadhawan said that the Punjab government has come up with the One Time Settlement (OTS) scheme to pay water supply and sewerage bills and licence fees.