: Demonetisation has come as a boon for the cash-strapped Municipal Corporation of Gurgaon and the Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (DHBVN).
The two departments have reported a sudden surge in collection of property tax and electricity tariff arrears in the wake of the Union government banning Rs.1,000 and Rs.500 notes. As per the MCG website, the civic body had collected Rs.13,08,375 as property tax as on November 8, the day Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the demonetisation decision.
On November 9, the MCG collected only Rs.2,85,255 and the collection figures for the next day stood at just Rs.1,25, 507.
But, there was a sudden surge in the property tax collections after the Haryana government decided to accept Rs.1,000 and Rs.500 notes for the collection of various taxes, including property tax.
Initially, the exemption was for the first three days and it was later extended till November 24. As per the MCG, the collection figures rose to Rs.39,22,461 on November 11, the day the Haryana government decided to exempt property tax collections from the demonetisation orders. Similarly, the MCG collected Rs.31,90,453 and Rs.90,80, 266 in the next two days. On November 18, the day’s collections stood at Rs.54,44,040.
Public benefit
“Never before have the collection figures been so high. A majority of the collections are arrears. People are seeing the exemption as an opportunity to get rid of unaccounted cash. For some, it spares them the pain of standing in long queues to deposit money,” said a MCG official on condition of anonymity, adding that more than Rs.5 crore had been collected as property tax so far. Similarly, the DHBVN has collected Rs.35 crore in less than a week since the Haryana government announced the exemption. “Almost 60 per cent of the collections in the past one week are arrears, while the rest are current bills,” Naveen Verma, DHBVN, Superintending Engineer, told The Hindu .
With the total arrears for connected and disconnected electricity connections standing at Rs.300 crore in Gurugram alone, Mr. Verma said the government should consider extending the exemption period beyond November 24.
Schemes launched
Encouraged by the collections, the government has launched separate schemes waiving the interest charges on arrears for a certain load in rural areas and another for voluntary disclosure of tampered and defective electricity meters.
