Fee shortfall recovered in 40 zone-change cases, HC told

Panaji: To deal with the underassessment of zone-change fees, 47 assessment orders for the recovery of the fee shortfall have been issued, the town and country planning (TCP) department has told the high court.

Of these, in 40 cases, additional fees as stipulated by the revised assessment orders have already been recovered, Vertika Dagur, holding the additional charge of the chief town planner (administration), submitted to the high court.

In the remaining cases, the TCP department has rescinded the notifications issued under Section 17(2) of the TCP Act after the parties did not pay even after the expiry of the seven-day deadline, she said.

The TCP department told the HC that of the 120 cases in which petitioners have alleged irregularities, only 47 applications were received prior to the notification in March 2024 when the fees were hiked from Rs 200 per sqm to Rs 1,000 per sqm.

The fees were assessed after the notification, the department added.

The high court is hearing a PIL alleging that the TCP department underassessed fees for the conversion of zones under Section 17 (2), causing a loss of crores to the exchequer.

The petitioners told the court that the TCP department deliberately underassessed fees, applying the old rate of Rs 200 per sqm instead of Rs 1,000 per sqm.

The high court last month directed the chief secretary to examine the allegations, observing that if found to be correct, they are “quite serious as they directly affect the revenue of the state, ultimately the public exchequer”.

Moreover, the high court called for a thorough inquiry into the matter, considering the huge loss of revenue that could have occurred but for the timely objection of the finance department.