Panvel: Protest Erupts as Villagers Demand Waiver of Taxes and Return to Old Tax Structure in PMC

Villagers of 23 Gram Panchayat and six villages that were included in the Panvel Municipal Corporation (PMC) when it was formed in 2016 have taken out a protest on Tuesday against the tax collection by the corporation. They demanded that taxes of the last five years should be waived off. In addition, they also demanded that they should be charged with the old tax structure of Gram Panchayat.

The PMC was formed on October 1, 2016, with 29 revenue villages of Panvel taluka, including the CIDCO colonies of Taloja, Kharghar, Kalamboli, Kamothe and New Panvel, which altogether sprawls 110km. While there is a water supply network in the CIDCO colonies and Panvel City, 29 villages fall in 23 gram panchayats. Tourists Get Lost on Chanderi Hill Trek in Panvel, Rescused by Local Residents and Officials.

On January 30, Panvel Taluka Prakalpgrast Samiti (PTPS) took out a protest march at civic headquarters and demanded to waive tax for the last five years. Advocate Deepak Thakur, secretary of PTPS, said that they lost their precious lands for industries. “Despite losing the lands, they were not provided with any means of livelihood. After their villagers were included in the PMC, their consent was not taken. Now, they asked to pay around five times the taxes they were paying under the Gram Panchayat,” said Advocate Thakur.

In 2019, the general body of PMC passed a proposal to collect tax collection since its inception in 2016. Citizens, however, contested the retrospective and dual property tax, leading them to approach the High Court. As per citizens, since the proposal was passed in 2019 by the general body of PMC, why the civic body has been collecting tax since its inception. In addition, residents who were residing under CIDCO’s jurisdiction claimed that they were already paying service charges to CIDCO, and that the civic body had been collecting taxes for the same period. They are victims of dual tax systems. In the past, residents in different groups took out several protests against the tax collection.

In 2020, residents under the corporation approached the High Court against the alleged dual and retrospective tax collection. However, the court did not stop the municipal corporation from tax collection. But it prohibited the civic body from taking any coercive action. Even in the past, villagers under the aegis of 95 NAINA villages and other PAPs, villagers from 29 villages under the PMC took out similar protest marches. Maharashtra Tragedy: One Crushed to Death, Two Others Injured After Stones and Boulders Fall During Blasting in Panvel.

“We are are not in a position to pay property taxes with five years arrears. The PMC was formed in 2016 and the civic general body had cleared a proposal of property tax collection. However, the civic body decided to collect since it came into existence,” said Suresh Patil, a resident of Akurli village.

As villagers were earlier paying property tax to Gram Panchayat and now coming under the civic body, the rate of taxes changed. Advocate Suresh Thakur, a senior member of NAINA and Other PAPs Committee, said they had made similar demands with the corporation. He said the property tax rate is quite high and many villagers cannot pay with the arrears. “Villagers received developed land after surrendering their agricultural land to CIDCO. Now, the owner of the land is CIDCO, and villagers possess the land on a 60-year lease. The actual owner of the land is CIDCO. So, the civic body should collect taxes from CIDCO,” claimed Thakur.

He claimed that the earnings of villagers dried up during the pandemic and now they are not in a position to pay taxes. The civic body is facing resistance in the collection of property tax. Even residents of Kharghar had opposed the dual and retrospective tax collection. Meanwhile, the civic body offered rebates and collected tax last year.