Panvel City Municipal Corporation (PCMC) managed to collect a whooping Rs 360 crore property tax in the fiscal year 2023-24, from April 1 to March 31, which is much higher than the tax collected since its inception in October 2016. The previous highest tax collection in a single financial year was Rs 165 crore in 2022-23.
So far, PCMC’s property tax collection from 2016 to 2024 stands at 647 crore, which includes the last fiscal year’s record collection of Rs 360 crore. In March 2024 alone, the collection was Rs 52 crore as the civic body appealed to the citizens to avoid heavy penalties and pay the pending dues by March 31.
According to civic officials in the property tax department, the record collection has been possible due to cooperation extended by the residents and various measures to swell the coffer with deployment of special squad node wise. As many as 17 squads were deployed to reach out to the defaulters which paid off rich dividend for the corporation. There are 3.5 lakh registered property holders in the civic jurisdiction and a major chunk helped the civic body in making timely payment. Most of the taxpayers preferred digital payment system.
An official said that “This will assist us in executing various infrastructure projects which are underway. The courts have already ruled in our favour while hearing a number of petitions filed by individuals and groups against the collection of property tax since inception of the civic body in 2016.”