ULBs in MP collected only 60% of property tax in 5 yrs: CAG

BHOPAL: In the midst of the dispute between Indore Municipal Corporation (IMC) and the Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association (MPCA), a report claims that the urban bodies (ULB) only collected 60 percent of property tax during the five-year period from 2015 to 2020.

According to a report by Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) on the financial state of urban local bodies of Madhya Pradesh, the average collection of Property Tax for the period 2015–20 was 60 percent of the total demand. Between 2017 and 2020, the collection fell from 69 to 45 percent. As of March 2020, the certain selected Urban Local Bodies had Rs. 269.66 crore that needed to be collected. Only 123 urban local bodies, or 30 percent, underwent a GIS survey. Only Raghogarh and Seoni, out of the 12 selected Nagar Palika Parishads, and Sultanpur, out of the 17 selected Nagar Parishads, collected service charges in place of property taxes.

Further, the report mentioned that collection from water charges of 33 ULBs was had gone down from 29 to 15 percent, during 2016-2020. On March 2020, a total of Rs 375.40 crore of water charges was pending in these ULBs.

Moreover, none of the surveyed ULBs had placed water metres for water connections. As a result, the recipients’ monthly water rates weren’t enough to cover the costs associated with running and maintaining the water supply. According to the audit, leaseholders and occupiers owed shop rent of Rs 8.9 crore.