NASHIK: Following a 30% drop in revenue in the first half of the ongoing fiscal, the Nashik Municipal Corporation (NMC) has decided to crack the whip on the tax defaulters.
Over the past week, the civic administration has disconnected water supply of 25 consumers who owe more than Rs 25,000 in water tax. Civic officials said the drive will continue and pick up pace during Diwali.
Further, Nashik municipal commissioner Kailas Jadhav has directed officials to speed up tax recovery.
“The total water tax dues are estimated to be around Rs 97 crore. Over 4,000 water tax defaulters owe the civic body over Rs 25,000 each; this comes up to around Rs 27 crore,” said the NMC officials.
NMC has set a water tax collection target of Rs 160 crore for the financial year, including current demand of Rs 60 crore, but has been able to collect only Rs 25 crore so far.
NMC gets its revenue through taxes on property, water, and other sources through its town planning department. The revenue of the civic body has been affected due to the Covid pandemic.
The civic body had expected Rs 1,050 crore in revenue from April to September this year, but was able to collect only Rs 750 crore. As per officials in the know, Rs 300 crore in other tax arrears too were pending.
