Regd. No. MCS/035/2015-17 RNI Regn. No. 43675/1985 MUMBAI TUESDAY, JANUARY 6, 2015 32 PAGES `3 Website: www.afternoondc.in
Aft er oo
LAKHS OF CASES OF MINOR PROTESTS TO BE WITHDRAWN
Gold: `26,890 Silver: `37,090 US Dollar: `63.41 Temperature: 290C/200C Humidity: 33%
Health&Fitness Pg13-20
File Pic
CABINET DECISION TO TAKE BACK SOCIO-POLITICAL CASES AGAINST ACTIVISTS, POLITICIANS By Prashant Hamine
n a major cabinet decision taken yesterday, the state cabinet decided to withdraw all cases of socio-political nature filed till November 1, 2014 against activists and politicians. This decision will not include criminal cases. Earlier, as per a Government Resolution of 2010, the government had withdrawn all such pending cases till May 2005. In an another decision, the state cabinet decided to give temporary powers of Tree Authority to municipal commissioners and chief executive officers of all civic bodies until the
Tree Authority is not set up as per the state tree conservation and protection act of 1975. Later speaking to newspersons at his Mantralaya office, Minister for Transport Diwakar Raote disclosed that the government will probe the issuing of 40,000 taxi permits by the previous Congress-Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) at the fag end of its tenure. He said that the government had received several complaints regarding discrepancies in documents submitted and issuing of permits to outsiders. Commenting on the recent rape incident in the Uber Cab in New Delhi, Raote said that
the government plans to make installation of RFID tags in all such private cabs. He added that the Transport department will also take action against Tehsildars who have been found guilty of issuing senior citizen cards to young people for senior citizen reservation facilities in State Transport buses. Raote also voiced his opposition to the Central government law on stage or point to point transport stating that such a law will curb the monopoly of the State Road Transport Corporation. He said that the situation in southern states is different than in Maharashtra. Speaking to newspersons
at his Mantralaya office, Minister for Industries Subhash Desai disclosed that the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) has approved 130 industrial projects in the state. These projects entail an investment of Rs 6,266 crore and will generate 14,000 jobs. Most of these industrial projects will come up in places like Patalganga, Dindori, Ambernath, Baramati, Jalgaon, Waluj, Butibori and 17 other locations. Some of the prominent foreign investors include – IFB Automative (Germany), Tag (Switzerland), Dongyang (Korea), Monopol Colours (Italy), Datwyler Pharma (Belgium) and others.
the 1.2 multiple factor, it will mean a reduction of another 10 per cent, making it a huge 22 per cent reduction,” said a senior civic official. The BMC has already given refunds to several holders as their property tax has come down in the new tax regime. They will have to be given additional refunds, he added. Considering the loss of Rs 300 crore, BMC property tax
revenues will be dropped by Rs 1,200 crore in the fouryear period from 2010 to 2014 and the refunds will have to be paid from the estimated revenues of 2014-15, said civic officials. Under the capital valuebased system, the BMC has sent property tax bills worth Rs 447 crore to about 3,300 new lands and buildings in the city. Their revenue collec-
tion will also come down by Rs 90 crore. “Under the new system, the property tax of many properties has already come down. There is no point in slashing their taxes further causing a dent in revenues,” said a top civic official. However, Congress corporator Pravin Chheda said, “This is injustice to lakhs of middle-class residents who
were likely to be benefitted by the reduction in property tax. The BMC in the act had said that they will calculate property tax based on capital value using the carpet area of the flat, but they started sending out bills based on the built-up area. Instead of easing the burden on people, the BMC is just looking at the revenues,” he said.
I
New property tax rule: BMC will lose `1,200 crore
By Khushboo Panjabi
T
hose who are expecting further reduction in their property tax bills after the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) decides to charge carpet area wise, are likely to be disappointed. The BMC has said that the removal of 1.2 factor used for multiplication of ready reckoner rates is not feasible, as it will lead to reduction in the civic body's revenues. The Bombay High Court had directed the BMC to check whether the formula to calculate the property tax can be used on the basis of carpet area of the flat rather that the built-up area. Following this, the BMC had submitted a new formula based on carpet area, but to balance out the amount, the civic officials proposed to multiply the ready reckoner rates by 1.2 to keep the rates intact. However, corporators had demanded removal of the
multiple rate of 1.2 so that people are benefitted. However, according to the civic officials, by affecting the change, the BMC stands to lose around Rs 300 crore every year in property tax collections. “While implementing the capital value-based system from 2010, we had anticipated around 12 per cent reduction in property tax collections. But if we remove
khushboo.panjabi@afternoondc.in
Estimated loss in property tax collections after removing 1.20 multiple factor for deciding capital value: Category
Current Yearly Demand (Rs. in crore) Residential 967.82 Industries/Factories 143.24 Non-residential 1572.55 Total 2683.61
Yearly Demand after removing 1.2 multiple factor ( Rs. in crore) 852.06 130.24 1368.17 2386.48
Drop in revenues in four years: Rs 1188.52 crore Drop in property tax of new properties: Rs 90 crore Total drop in revenues: Rs 1278.52 crore
Yearly Difference (Rs. in crore) 115.76 12.9 168.47 297.13