Panvel residents are currently not required to pay retrospective property tax

By Bricksnwall | 2024-05-22

On May 17, the Supreme Court (SC) issued an interim judgment for Panvel property owners to pay their property tax dues to the Panvel Municipal Corporation (PMC) by June 29.

Panvel: On May 17, the Supreme Court (SC) issued an interim judgment for Panvel property owners to pay their property tax dues to the Panvel Municipal Corporation (PMC) by June 29. The Supreme Court issued a similar decision on April 29, but the year 2020-2021 was stated, causing confusion, which it has since confirmed is not applicable.

The Kharghar Cooperative Housing Societies Federation, which filed an appeal against the PMC tax, hailed the judgment, noting that it will ask homeowners to pay their dues and demanding that the civic body issue amended bills in accordance with the SC order. Commander (Retd) S H Kalawat, general secretary of the federation, stated, "This is a significant victory for us. PMC initially sent us the bills in 2021, and we've been ready to pay since. We are opposed to the retrospective effect that the civic body imposes."

Kalawat noted that while the civic organization began demanding taxes in 2016, shortly after PMC was founded, it provided little civic service in our communities. "We had been paying costs to CIDCO, the nodal agency. This equates to double taxation. Also, according to the Municipal Corporation Act, the general body and standing committee must adopt the tax rate by February 20 each year, which PMC did not accomplish from 2016 to 2021," he stated.

Speaking about the court proceedings, Kalawat stated, "PMC requested the court to order the property tax payment from assessment year 2016 onwards, pending the appeal. We explained to the court that the issue before the Court is retrospective taxation, and consequently an equitable ruling should be issued in the case. The court rejected PMC's demand and instead ordered that the tax be paid beginning in 2021. The court acknowledged the retrospective aspect, so we won 95% of the case.

The federation's lawyer has written to the municipal commissioner requesting that the bills be revised in accordance with the Supreme Court judgment. A meeting of property owners will soon be organized to advise them to pay.

When reached, municipal commissioner Dr. Prashant Rasal stated, "We are preparing revised bills beginning in 2021 in accordance with the SC order, and they will be issued by the end of this month." The tax demand for 2016-2021 has not been denied and will be determined independently by the court. We are optimistic of a good decision.

PMC reported a record-breaking property tax income of ₹ 360 crore in 2023-24. The overall collection presently stands at ₹750 crore of the ₹1,500 crore demand, including retrospective taxation. PMC has identified 3,5 lakh properties. Approximately 77,000 property owners have paid their bills, leaving 2.80 lakh defaulters.

Source: Hindustan Times