Mumbai: Income remains a problem for cash-rich BMC

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation BMC has not succeeded in increasing its revenue through various sources mentioned in the previous budget 202223 While property tax the BMCrsquos fixed source dwindled the civic body wasnrsquot able to increase revenue despite implementing user fee for solid waste management seeking reimbursement of COVID19 expenditure worth Rs 2500 crore from district collectors or even through pending dues from the state governmentThough the fixed deposits of the BMC increased over the period due to nonimplementation of projects announced in the budget the fact is that the cash rich corporation hasnrsquot been able to find a constant source of income after octroi was abolished in 2017Main sourcesThe major sources of revenue for the year 202223 were compensation in lieu of octroi Rs 11429 crore income from property tax Rs 7000 crore income from DP Department Rs 3950 crore income from interest on investments Rs 1128 crore and income from water and sewerage charges Rs 1597 croreAlso Read Govt must step in to help Bhandup mall shopsApart from these regular sources the municipal commissioner had announced the generation of revenue through reimbursement of COVID expenditure levying user fee under solid waste management and digital advertisements apart from pending dues from the state government But the BMC failed to increase its income through these sources alsoMunicipal Commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal insists the BMC income has not decreased File picShadab KhanHowever Municipal Commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal insists the BMC income has not decreased ldquoWhen I joined the BMC in 2020 the fixed deposits were around Rs 77000 crore which have now increased to Rs 88000 crore despite spending on infrastructure projects so it is not correct that the income has decreased We estimated Rs 7000 from property tax by considering revision of 17 37 but the state government did not approve it We even crossed our estimated income through DP and getting compensation of octroi alsordquo said ChahalThe civic chief had said in his budget speech last year that BMC spent huge amounts on various measures during the pandemic A claim of Rs 1417 crore and Rs 1348 crore for the expenditure up to September 2021 was submitted to the Mumbai city and suburban district collectors for reimbursement from the State Disaster Response Fund SDRF But the BMC hasnrsquot received a paisa from the collectors ldquoWe havenrsquot received any response from them We raised the issue with the state government and will keep pursuing itrdquo said ChahalThe BMC was expecting Rs 200 crore from lsquouser feersquo and processing and disposal charges But the decision is still pending The BMC hasnrsquot received a substantial amount even through digital advertisingGrant pendingThe BMC was planning to correspond with various departments of the state government for pending dues which were Rs 6788 crore till December 2021 including Rs 4840 crore grant from the education department ldquoThe BMC received a very minor share of grant from the state government this year and the pending grant amount is more than Rs 4500 crorerdquo said a BMC officialThe BMC is still dependent on the compensation from the state government in lieu of octroi and the dependency has been increasing year after year with almost 50 per cent income coming from it On the other hand the major source of property tax has been decreasing and the BMC couldnrsquot meet the target in the past seven years Even this year despite tall claims in last years budget the BMC hardly collected 50 per cent of estimated Rs 7000 crore till the end of January ldquoThe proposed Capital Value Revision was supposed to be implemented from 202223 But it wasnrsquot approved by the state governmentrdquo said a BMC official It has an impact on the income from property tax But the BMC also did not succeed in imposing a penalty on unauthorised constructionLast year in 202122 the BMC received a whopping Rs 14000 crore through the Development Plan Department after the state government declared a 5037 concession in premium payable to BMC But the concession was for a limited period and the BMC had estimated around Rs 4000 crore this yearldquoThe BMC is moving towards a deficit budget They have already collected all the DP revenue by giving discounts last year In property tax they were issued credit notes of Rs 4500 crore in advance for PAP and new avenues have not been exposed due to fixed deposits The fiscal management collapsedrdquo said Rais Sheikh excorporator and MLA of Samajwadi PartyRs 4500 crGrant pending from the state education department