Panvel Municipal Corporation’s property tax demand angers Kharghar residents

Residents of Kharghar and flat owners within the Panvel Municipal Corporation PMC have opposed dual and retrospective property tax While they have been paying service tax to CIDCO the PMC also wants them to pay property tax since 2016 when it was formedLegal experts and MahaSEWA Maharashtra Societies Welfare Association say the dual taxation cannot be levied since services like road and water in Kharghar node continue to be with CIDCO The residents have now taken up the matter with the state government and local politicians apart from mulling a court moveMangesh Ranawde chairman of Kharghar Taloja Colonies Welfare Association KTCWA said ldquoWe are ready to pay either service tax or property tax The PMC needs to withdraw the retrospective taxation as many buildings in Sector 30 and beyond have received occupation certificates OC only in 2018rdquoKTCWA and MahaSEWA discussed the matter during a webinar on June 13 The members said property tax for five years would be equal or more than the service tax that they have paid to CIDCO since 2016 They called the demand ldquounjustrdquoIn the past five years the members said PMC directed them to agencies like CIDCO pollution control board and the forest department whenever they raised issues like water supply air pollution and wetland protection They are still fighting for proper garbage pickup and disposal in Kharghar Sectors 2636KTCWA and MahaSEWA have already sent a representation to CM Uddhav Thackeray and Urban Development Minister Eknath Shinde and plan to meet them soon ldquoIf still no recourse we will take a legal stand on the samerdquo said RanawdeMangal Kamble founder president of Swachh Kharghar Foundation said ldquoCIDCO is yet to hand over the Kharghar node to PMC and due to this neither is CIDCO managing nor PMC is able to maintain anything and residents continue to suffer due to bad roads and other basic infrastructure Roundtheclock water supply and even basic civic amenities are in a shamblesrdquo Kamble said property tax is essential for a civic body but it cannot be under the ambit of dual taxationKamble said they have been told that the property tax was cleared by PMCrsquos standing committee way back in 2019 ldquoToday most of the elected representatives are raising slogans against double taxation and are pretending to be the common manrsquos supporters They should pay the taxes on our behalf Also we have learnt that a few of the politically aspiring voices allegedly did not even allow the PMC outsourced staff to carry out surveys of their own houserdquoKamble said the tax bills have been raised against societies despite PMCrsquos claims that the invoices were sent to flat owners She said people need more clarity on thisldquoUnfortunately residents of Kharghar are being taken for granted by both CIDCO and PMCrdquo added KambleRamesh Prabhu founder chairman of MahaSEWA said ldquoCIDCO says the complete handover has so far not taken place and they are continuing to levy their charges PMC is levying taxes based on the decision taken by the standing committee In the process the citizens are made to pay double taxation The government will have to sort out thisrdquo He said their final option will be the Bombay High CourtKharghar resident Dr P Sekhar who is also the chairman MTGF said ldquoThe corporation needs money and there are innovative solutions through proper and secured governance After COVID the public is looking for a better system rather than double taxesrdquoldquoWhatever we have already paid to CIDCO should be waived by PMC and the remaining we are ready to pay Water supply and road maintenance is still under CIDCO so how come PMC is charging retrospectivelyrdquo asked retired Air India staffer Pradeep Inamdar who lives in Sector 19The other sideA PMC official said they have so far not collected taxes from any of the nodes other than the old Panvel area ldquoWe are only following the 2019 resolution Moreover discounts are being given on property tax and those paying online get an extra 2 per cent rebate The PMC commissioner also arranged a Facebook interaction with locals to clarify the standrdquo said the official