Panaji civic body to crack down on tax defaulters

Panaji: The Corporation of the City of Panaji (CCP) will launch a special drive next week to identify commercial establishments with outstanding dues or operating without a valid trade license.

A senior official at the CCP said that municipal inspectors will visit each ward and ask the commercial establishments to produce trade licences and house tax receipts and proper action will be taken against defaulters. “CCP commissioner will issue notice to them,” he said.

The official also said that several defaulters had been identified from CCP records. “We have prepared a list of commercial establishments with unpaid taxes. If they are still operational we will take action to recover dues,” he added.

Mayor Rohit Monserrate said that only 40-50% of residents and businesses in Panaji pay their house tax, with the rest being defaulters. To prevent financial losses, he said that the CCP would discontinue garbage collection services for defaulters.

Corporator and former mayor Surendra Furtado said govt's failure to establish bylaws is causing financial losses for the CCP.

“As per the mayor’s figures, 50% of people pay their taxes to CCP in April, while the rest don’t comply. Defaulters don’t respect CCP’s rules due to the lack of bylaws.” Furtado said.

“During my tenure draft bylaws were passed by the council and forwarded to govt. But now the CCP mayor, local MLA and govt are of the same party...triple engine. So why are bylaws not being framed?,” he further said. He added that bylaws would empower the commissioner and officials to enforce strict measures against defaulters.


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