The BBMP owes the state government more than Rs 1,000 crore in health cess payment.
While the civic body is expected to transfer this money to the government after the annual collection of cess, the BBMP failed to do so for five years between 2014-15 and 2018-19.
According to a CAG report on ‘Panchayat Raj Institutions and Urban Local Bodies’ (for the years ending March 2019 and March 2020), the BBMP owes the government Rs 1,087 crore in health cess payment. Not just that, it also has failed to remit Rs 226 crore in library cess of Rs 434 crore collected and Rs 150 crore in beggary cess of the total of Rs 217 crore collected.
While the health cess has to be remitted to the state fund, the library cess goes to the district and city central library and the beggary cess to the Central Relief Fund. The cess is collected so that the government can improve related public services.
The report also noted that in the period between 2014-15 and 2018-19, various urban local bodies (ULBs) remitted only part of the cess collected to the departments concerned. Across the state, ULBs are yet to transfer Rs 378 crore in health cess, Rs 60 crore in library cess and Rs 24 crore in beggary cess.
The CAG reports also throws light on arrears in property tax in various ULBs. The arrears in ULBs went up between 2014-15 and 2018-19 as the property tax collection decreased from 80 per cent in 2014-15 to 59 per cent in 2018-19. By the end of 2018-19, there were arrears to the tune of Rs 503 crore in various ULBs.
The BBMP has, however, fared better on this count. In the BBMP limits, the property tax collection went up from 62 per cent in 2014-15 to 77 per cent in 2018-19.
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(Published 16 March 2022, 20:31 IST)
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