Patiala civic body fails to recover tax from PSPCL
Ravneet Singh
Tribune News Service
Patiala, September 2
Already low on tax collection and funds, the Patiala Municipal Corporation has failed to recover municipal tax on consumption, use or sale of electricity from PSPCL for the past three years.
The revelation has come in the office’s response to an RTI application. The tax collection, which started in 2017, stopped after August 2018. The MC also does not have details of the current pending amount.
Pending since September 2018
- The tax collection, which started in 2017, stopped after August 2018
- The MC collected Rs1.44 crore as municipal tax in five instalments from December 2017 to August 2018
- It also does not have the exact details of pending municipal tax
As per the documents with The Tribune, the MC wrote to the PSPCL several times over the matter, but to no avail. As per the MC response, it collected Rs 1.44 crore as municipal tax in five instalments from December 2017 to August 2018. It also does not have the exact details of pending municipal tax as the same is supposed to be calculated and submitted by the PSPCL on the basis of sale of electricity to consumers, it said.
The low collection of tax amount, meanwhile, repeatedly reflects in its yearly budget. A senior MC official, on the condition of anonymity, said the MC had failed in collecting enough funds through its heads last year.
As per the MC’s recent budget document passed in March as well, it was expecting submission of Rs 11.60 crore municipal tax from the PSPCL but failed to do so.
MC Commissioner Poonamdeep Kaur said the corporation had collected around Rs 2 crore from the power department. “We are holding meetings with the officials of the PSPCL over the matter. We have managed to collect some amount, while the rest will be collected after deliberations.”
PSPCL superintending engineer SM Chopra said: “A number of meetings have been held at the level of XENs and by the Finance Department of the PSPCL with the Municipal Corporation. There were a few disputes in relation to pending amounts and surcharge levied due to pending payments. Regular meetings are now being held and our accountants are consolidating the amounts in order to resolve the matter.”
