Pune: Sajag Nagrik Manch Urges PMC To Scrap Plan For New Property Tax Amnesty Scheme Citing Heavy Revenue Losses
Pune: Sajag Nagrik Manch Urges PMC To Scrap Plan For New Property Tax Amnesty Scheme Citing Heavy Revenue Losses
Pune, November 4, 2025: Vivek Velankar, President of Sajag Nagrik Manch, has written to the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) Commissioner urging the civic body to cancel its proposed new Property Tax Amnesty Scheme, citing poor results and financial losses from similar initiatives in previous years.
According to Velankar, PMC’s past amnesty schemes in 2020–21 and 2021–22 caused significant revenue losses while failing to improve long-term tax compliance.
In 2020–21, a total of 1,49,683 defaulters availed the scheme, but PMC suffered a loss of ₹210 crore due to waiver of penalties and interest. Similarly, in 2021–22, another 66,454 defaulters benefited, resulting in a loss of ₹64 crore to the civic body.
Velankar highlighted that the intention behind the scheme — to recover pending property taxes — has not been fulfilled. Instead, many beneficiaries defaulted again. Information obtained under the Right to Information (RTI) revealed that of the 1,49,683 defaulters who took advantage of the 2020–21 scheme, 63,518 (42%) became defaulters again by December 2024. Similarly, out of 66,454 beneficiaries from 2021–22, 44,685 (67%) failed to pay their property tax dues again.
The Sajag Nagrik Manch has argued that such repeated amnesty schemes discourage honest taxpayers who pay their dues on time, while rewarding habitual defaulters.
Velankar requested PMC to completely drop plans for any new amnesty initiative. However, if the civic body insists on implementing it, he suggested two conditions:
1. Exclude those defaulters who already benefited from earlier amnesty schemes but defaulted again.
2. Obtain an undertaking from participating defaulters that if they fail to pay property tax in the future, the waived penalty and interest amounts will be recovered from them.
The letter concludes by urging the civic administration to act responsibly in the interest of maintaining financial discipline and fairness among taxpayers.
