TEAM HERALD
VASCO: The Mormugao Municipal Council (MMC) has asked all business owners to pay their dues by June 5 or face strict action, such as sealing of the defaulter’s premises. Until now, it had been soft on the issue of recovering dues.
“We were forced to take such a harsh decision on defaulters as the dues that are pending since the last several years started wounding the cash registers of the councils,” said Tara Kerkar, MMC vice chairman and the newly-appointed chairman of the recovery committee.
According to information, the MMC Chief Officer Melvyn Vaz also formed a 16-member recovery squad under the leadership of the account taxation officer. As per the CO’s direction, the squad will visit the listed defaulters every Saturday. Instead of issuing a demand notice, the MMC will give a warning. After that, it will serve an eviction notice.
“The MMC’s appeal to the occupants of the shops, stalls and others who have been conducting business without payment of any license fees and other taxes has fallen on deaf ears. It is true that the municipality is supposed to cater to the people’s needs, but we always remain in the line of fire for lack of development. If one peeps deeper into the council, then they will understand that we have difficulties, and are even struggling to pay our staff’s salaries on time,” Kerkar said at a press meeting on Thursday.
She continued, “We used to adopt soft measures against the defaulter, but henceforth, we will ensure that the outstanding dues will be collected on priority, either by hook or by crook.”
Today, the MMC tops the list of worst-affected councils in terms of outstanding dues. Over Rs five crore consists of rent arrears, while a similar amount is outstanding from the people. The accumulated arrears are increasing daily.
