Prayagraj: The Prayagraj Municipal Corporation (PMC) will implement a one-time settlement (OTS) scheme for outstanding house, water and sewer tax dues from Aug 15 to Decr 15.Under state govt-approved scheme, property owners will be able to clear their pending dues in three instalments after submitting applications between Aug 15 and Nov 14.As per the scheme, applicants will have to deposit 30% of their outstanding dues as the first instalment within a month of applying. The remaining amount can be paid in two subsequent instalments. The benefits of the OTS scheme will be available only after the third and final instalment is deposited.The scheme is expected to benefit around 90,000 property owners in the city, including a large number of long-term defaulters. Residents and elected representatives had been demanding such a scheme for several years, arguing that the accumulation of dues made it difficult for many property owners to clear their liabilities in one go.PMC has more than four lakh properties across its 100 wards. Of these, around 2.5 lakh property owners regularly pay taxes. However, nearly 90,000 property owners have reportedly not deposited even a single rupee towards house tax so far. The accumulated dues from these properties are estimated at Rs 40-50 crore.PMC chief tax assessment officer Sanjay Mamgai said the civic body had decided to extend the benefits of state govt’s OTS scheme to eligible property owners in Prayagraj.“The scheme will provide relief to defaulters by enabling them to clear their dues in instalments while also helping the civic body improve tax recovery and boost revenue,” he said.
