Rahatani Based Park Royale Society Faces Burden of Additional Tax Despite Having Eco-Friendly Initiatives
By: Pune Pulse
June 20, 2023
Pune: Park Royale Co-operative Housing Society Ltd, a Rahatani-based society, is bearing an additional tax burden called ‘Upyogkarta Shulk’ imposed on them despite running eco-friendly initiatives in the society.
The society has written a letter to the PCMC Commissioner Shekhar Singh seeking help and waiver in property tax.
Speaking to Pune Pulse, Uday Sabde, Secretary, Park Royale Co-operative Housing Society Ltd said, “The Upyogkarta Shulk has been imposed on us for a long time. Since 2018, we have been doing wet waste management on our own. After segregation, the non-recyclable items are given to the housekeeping people after which they sell them and earn money. We manage around 300 kg of waste in the society. Still, this additional tax has been imposed on us. Rs 1260 is the amount of the Upyogkarta Shulk per flat. There are 433 flats in the society. However, till date we are yet to understand why we have to pay this additional tax when we have spent around Rs 15 lakh to create wet waste management infrastructure for our society. Additionally, we also spent Rs 60 to 70 thousand for dry waste management infrastructure. Still, we have to face the burden of paying this additional tax which doesn’t even apply to us.”
Yashwant Dange, Head, PCMC Health Department said, “The PCMC has received such cases. So, the PCMC is going to issue orders in the current week after which such societies/localities will be thoroughly inspected. Then, a list of such societies/localities will be finalized and the additional tax will be removed soon.”
Uday Sabde, said, “As part of the 5 Star Award, our society is entitled to additional discounts on the property tax bill. As per the PCMC circular regarding the various categories of discounts, the society fulfills all the criterias. ”
Sabde in his letter mentioned, “The 10 percent discount for a 5 Star Society has been applied and is reflected in the generated property tax bills. The 5 percent EV Discount for common EV infrastructure has not been applied yet despite the PCMC announcement over a year back. We have been following up with the property tax department for the past one month, but there is no progress on this. The society has also been segregating wet and dry waste and composting wet waste inside the society and we do not rely on collection and disposal of PCMC for the last 5 years. We have invested more than 15 lakhs and process close to 250 kgs of waste. We urge that the additional tax imposed must be waived off too.
