Non-integrated data on portal hits property tax recovery in Panipat

Mukesh Tandon

Panipat, March 26

The financial year, 2022-23, will end within five days, but the recovery of property tax by the Municipal Corporation (MC), Panipat, is merely 30 per cent against the total demand of the property tax.

ONLY Rs 14 CRORE RECOVERED

The MC had fixed the target to recover the property tax of Rs 40 crore in the current financial year 2022-23, but had recovered only Rs 14.70 crore against the total demand.

The MC authorities have given the excuse that the non-integration of the property data on the no-dues certificate (NDC) portal had hit the collection process this year. The Budget meeting of the MC is, meanwhile, scheduled for March 29.

The MC had fixed the target to recover the property tax of Rs 40 crore in the current financial year, but had recovered only Rs 14.70 crore against the total demand. Sources said Rs 232 crore were outstanding arrears of the property tax till March 31, 2022, in the records of the MC, which was not deposited by the residents for the past many years.

A private company, Yashi Consulting Services Private Limited, had conducted the property survey in 2020-21.

As per the fresh survey report, there were a total of 1.73 lakh units in Panipat of which 90,756 are residential, 15,430 commercial, 7,115 industrial, 35,432 vacant plots, 20,292 mix-use plots, 493 towers and 829 institutional units. As per the old survey, there were only 1.43 lakh units registered in the MC records. The survey report was uploaded on the NDC portal of the Urban Local Bodies (ULB) Department in October last year.

The uploaded data had increased the tension of residents as well as that of the MC officials as the data of around 70,000 properties did not mismatch. Even scores of approved localities were shown as unapproved on

the portal.

Sources in the MC said still the data of approximately 25,000 properties was not integrated with the data uploaded on the NDC portal.

A senior official of the MC said no regular commissioner in the MC and the non-integrated data of properties were the main reason behind the slow recovery of the property tax. Still the data of around 25,000 properties was non-integrated, the official added.

Rahul Narwal, Municipal Commissioner, said the property tax recovery had improved this year due to people’s awareness and due to steps initiated by the state government. The MC would initiate steps to increase the property tax collection with more involvement of the people, he added.