Pune: With just a few days remaining before the financial year 2024-25 ends, the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) is intensifying efforts to boost property tax collection. In a first-of-its-kind initiative, female employees have been deployed to recover pending property tax dues. To execute this, the municipal administration has formed 12 teams consisting of 60 female officers, who will focus on recovering outstanding tax amounts.
Revenue Target and Shortfall
The PMC’s Property Tax Department was given a revenue target of ₹2,727 crore for the financial year. However, with only ₹2,150 crore collected so far, there remains a shortfall of ₹650 crore. With just 15 days left, achieving the target is highly challenging. Despite this, the administration is pushing hard to collect as much tax as possible before the financial year ends.
Aggressive Tax Recovery Measures
To recover pending taxes, PMC has been taking strict measures, including:
Issuing notices to defaulters
Playing bands in front of tax evaders' properties
Seizing buildings
Locking premises to pressure defaulters
Now, in a new initiative, PMC has assigned women officers to enhance these recovery efforts.
12 Women-Led Teams Formed for Tax Collection
To further strengthen tax recovery, the PMC has formed 12 dedicated teams consisting of 60 female employees. These women were previously working in various municipal offices and have now been tasked with property tax collection.
Launched on Women's Day
This initiative was launched on Women's Day to mark the first time female officers have been assigned property tax collection duties. On the first day of operations, these women-led teams seized three properties and successfully recovered ₹10 lakh in dues.
According to Madhav Jagtap, Deputy Commissioner of the Property Tax Department, deploying women officers for tax recovery is a new experiment, and their teams have already shown promising results.