By Arun Pratap Singh
Dehradun, 5 Mar: Dehradun Municipal Corporation is the first and the largest municipal corporation in Uttarakhand, which has about 1.2 lakh property taxpayers, including commercial and private institutions as well as households. As the financial year 2024-2025 draws to a close, the Municipal Corporation has ramped up efforts to collect house tax but is facing a huge challenge in collecting the dues.
The general public is being offered a 20 percent discount on house tax payments. Meanwhile, the municipal administration has claimed that strict action is being prepared against long-term defaulters, particularly the common people; reminders have been sent to all defaulters to clear dues by 31 March, after which legal action may be taken.
Shockingly, several state and central government departments owe huge dues as property tax to the Nagar Nigam. The sources admitted that a prominent hospital in Doon has not paid its taxes since the 2016-17 fiscal year. Still refusing to name the hospital, it was stated that dues of around Rs 12 crores were pending. Many other government institutions also have substantial outstanding dues.
The Survey of India, which is a Central Government institution, owes Rs 4 crores as property tax; Maharana Pratap Sports College owes Rs 1.4 crores; UPCL (Uttarakhand Power Corporation Limited) owes Rs 1.96 crores; Forest Research Institute of India (FRI) owes Rs 2 crores; the District Judge’s Office owes Rs 82 lakhs; the MLA Hostel owes Rs 67 lakhs; the Officer Transit Hostel owes Rs 32 lakhs; the Uttarakhand Pollution Control Board owes Rs 44.35 lakhs; the Archaeological Survey Department owes Rs 14 lakhs; the Employment Office owes Rs 16.29 lakhs; Anchal Dairy, which is cooperative unit. owes Rs 35.89 lakhs; Regal Information Technology, IT Park, owes Rs 28.23 lakhs.
Sources added that the Nagar Nigam has recovered Rs 45 crores so far, against a target of Rs 60 crores. Four teams have been deployed to recover the remaining Rs 15 crores. It has been shared that so far 65,000 taxpayers out of a total of 1.2 lakh taxpayers, have paid their dues, contributing to the Rs 45 crores collected so far.
For the first time, the Municipal Corporation is sending online bills and reminders via WhatsApp to defaulters; this strategy has proven effective, resulting in revenue of Rs 41 lakhs over the last nine months. In just 17 days, an amount of around Rs 53 lakhs has been collected using this method. Notices are being sent through WhatsApp, with reminders to pay by 31 March and the Nagar Nigam administration claims that persistent defaulters may face RC issuance and penalties. It also claims that small defaulters have particularly benefited from the WhatsApp billing initiative, ensuring better compliance and revenue collection for the corporation.
