Pune: The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has proposed to waive off penalty on illegal homes measuring less than 600 sq ft. It will decide the penalty on illegal homes measuring 601 to 1,000 sq ft. The PMC has tabled a proposal in the Standing Committee. 

At present, buildings without the mandatory Occupancy Certificate (OC) are considered as illegal and property holders have to pay double the tax amount as per section 267 of the Maharashtra Municipal Corporation Act. 

The civic body wants to waive off property tax for constructions up to 600 sq ft under the newly amended State government rules in the Municipal Corporation Act.

The PMC has proposed that flats or houses up to 600 sq ft should be completely exempted from the penalty clause. Earlier, the penalty was double on illegal residential homes. Now, the PMC will decide the penalty amount for illegal residential and commercial constructions measuring 601-1,000 sq ft. 

Earlier, such illegal constructions attracted threefold penalty. However, the State government has amended the municipal law and asked the civic body to discuss and implement the waiver at their level. The quantum of the waiver has to be decided by the respective civic body.

Vilas Kanade, head of the property tax department, said, “There are 16,000 illegal properties (in the residential and commercial categories) of the size measuring 601 to 1,000 sq ft. Earlier, a flat penalty was imposed on illegal properties irrespective of its size. It was two times more than the original property tax. Now, the State government has empowered the municipal corporations to decide the penalty. Hence, we have tabled a proposal in the Standing Committee.” 

The State government directive is aimed at reducing the financial burden on innocent residents, who are already hassled due to the ‘illegal’ tag on their homes.