Team Herald
MARGAO: It has been revealed that pending arrears from signboards erected within the jurisdiction of the Margao Municipal Council have reached Rs 69.86 lakh. Citizens are now demanding that the civic body expedite the recovery of these funds. They believe that addressing this financial backlog could resolve the municipality’s financial crises.
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Citizens have called on Chairperson Damodar Shirodkar to take immediate action to recover the outstanding Rs 69.86 lakh from the business establishments operating within the MMC’s jurisdiction.
They are urging Shirodkar to initiate plans for the collection of these arrears, believing that doing so could provide much-needed funds to address local issues.
According to sources from the civic body, the Margao Municipal Council (MMC) has successfully recovered Rs 17.91 lakh of the total outstanding of Rs 87.77 lakh between April and July this year. Despite this progress, a significant balance remains, and the MMC is expected to continue its efforts to collect the remaining dues. The partial recovery is seen as a positive step, but citizens and business owners alike are pressing for further action to address the outstanding amount and resolve the financial shortfall.
“Additionally, the civic body has collected Rs 28.53 lakh in signboard revenues for the financial year from April 2023 to March 2024,” informed sources. “For the fiscal year 2022-23, the total revenue collected from signboards was Rs 41.27 lakh.”
Pooja Naik, a resident of Fatorda, emphasised that it is high time for the civic body to take the issue of revenue collection more seriously.
“It has been observed that several business establishments within the civic body’s jurisdiction have failed to pay their arrears and fees for the installation of signboards,” she stated. “Shockingly, these violators often go scot-free because the civic body is slow to initiate any action against them.”
Custodio Fernandes, a resident of Borda, pointed out that Borda has become a thriving business hub with numerous establishments setting up in the locality. Despite this growth, he noted that the civic body seldom seems to collect fees for the signboards installed by these businesses.
Fernandes expressed concern that the lack of effective fee collection undermines the revenue potential and calls for more diligent enforcement by the Municipal Council body.
“Non-collection of the fees has resulted in a revenue loss to the civic body. And hence, MMC needs to prepare an action plan so that this major revenue source is tapped on time”, he stated.
