PCMC ASKS CIDCO TO HAND OVER ALL FACILITIES TO AVOID TWIN TAXES

NAVI MUMBAI: To give a respite to the Panvel residents who had been complaining about double taxation, Urban Development Minister, Eknath Shinde, on Friday asked CIDCO to hand over all the civic facilities it provides to Panvel City Municipal Corporation (PCMC) in two months.

The state claims that this will ensure the residents do not have to pay dual taxes to both CIDCO and PCMC, against which the residents had been protesting.

Along with the direction of the transfer, Shinde has also said that PCMC will get the right to levy property tax only after the transfer procedure is over.

“This will end the issue of double taxation permanently,” said Shinde in a statement. PCMC came into existence in 2016. For the first few years, it did not collect property tax from the citizens. But this year, it sent notices to them to pay property tax for which they expressed their displeasure.

“Even after the PCMC came into existence, many civic services were provided by CIDCO and the service charge was being levied by CIDCO. As long as all services are not transferred from CIDCO to PCMC, the double taxation would continue and hence this transfer is important,” the statement further said.

The residents who have been voicing out their opinions against the double taxation have welcomed the move. “If the direction specifies that the corporation will have the right to levy property tax only after the transfer procedure is completed, then we are happy about it. But the issue of the excess taxation in the name of property tax is still not addressed. PCMC is levying a much higher amount than neighbouring corporations,” Leena Garad, Kharghar Forum President, said.

PCMC chief, Ganesh Deshmukh, said, “For annual repairs, we need ₹216Cr and hence taxation is important. The decision is on transfer of the services to us to avoid payment of service charges to CIDCO and has nothing to do with property tax. Property tax stays as it is and we have all the right to levy it. The transfer process of all services except for water is going on. A joint inspection is being done for all the calculations and verifications.”