Ludhiana: Ludhiana municipal corporation’s property tax recovery drive has hit a severe slowdown, falling ₹16 crore short compared to the previous year as civic employees remain tied up with election-related voter list duties.Official figures show the civic body has collected only ₹25 crore in property tax so far, significantly lagging behind last year’s recovery during the same timeframe.Civic officials attributed the delay to the ongoing special intensive revision of voter lists, where staff are under heavy pressure to issue notices, verify documents, and resolve voter objections within a 10-day deadline.Property tax remains a primary revenue stream for the civic body, directly impacting its ability to disburse employee salaries when collection targets are missed.Tax recovery has also slowed as residents delay payments in anticipation of a one-time settlement scheme with tax relaxations, similar to the relief option offered last year ahead of elections.Confirming the backlog, MC secretary Vivek Verma stated, “Though we are running behind our target, we have time till September 30 where residents show maximum response and get 10% rebate in the tax payment while after that full payment will have to be done. We are sending the SMS alerts and are making calls to the defaulters of previous years to clear their dues.”Verma acknowledged that field recovery efforts remain constrained, noting that the deployment of staff on SIR duty has created a shortage of personnel available to conduct field visits and target tax defaulters.
