Team Herald

PANJIM: Panjim Mayor Surendra Furtado has pulled up officers of the Corporation of the City of Panaji (CCP), including the Commissioner, for failing to recover dues from house tax defaulters, which include major government offices. In a letter to Commissioner Deepak Desai, Furtado has requested him to take urgent action for recovery of the outstanding arrears by issuing warrants of attachments under the City of Panjim Corporation Act.

“I have been pressing and reminding the Commissioner, Accounts/Taxation Officers and other officers of the CCP to take coercive action to recover the outstanding house tax and other dues of the CCP by issuing warrants of attachment of the properties of defaulters as provided under Sections 146, 148, 149 and 150 of the CPC Act,” he said. 

“However, it is regretted that the Commissioner has not taken any such action so far, resulting in accumulation of the outstanding arrears of house tax and other dues to crores of rupees and for which the Controller and Auditor General of India (Goa Unit) has taken strong objection,” the letter by Furtado further states.

As per details, the major defaulters are government departments such as Entertainment Society of Goa (Rs 1.47 crore), Customs & Central Excise (Rs 74.65 lakh) and Passport office (Rs 31.48 lakh) among others. 

Department of Information and Technology’s newly-inaugurated office at Altinho and the Department of Tourism also owe the CCP over Rs 1 lakh in house tax dues whereas the Archdiocese of Goa, having its Archdiocese Building in Mala, owes the CCP around Rs 1.39 lakh.