Aurangabad, Feb 1:
The Aurangabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) today hinted at registering criminal offence or booking under Negotiable Instrument Act (NIA), if the bank dishonours the cheque deposited by the citizen against his property tax or water tax.
It is learnt that 31 property-holders issued cheques of Rs 10.96 lakh against their property and water taxes since January 3, 2021. The cheques of amount Rs 10.96 lakh got dishonoured by different banks for want of adequate funds in the account. As a result, the civic officials intensified the recovery drive and succeeded in getting Rs 4.17 lakh (out of Rs 10.96 lakh).
The deputy commissioner and the assessor and collector of tax (ACT) said that the AMC municipal commissioner and administrator A K Pandey had ordered all the ward officers to intensify the property tax and water tax recovery drive in all nine zones of the city. " The AMC personnel are collect cheques from door to door for the convenience of tax-payers, on-demand. However, it is observed that some property-holders are intentionally issuing cheques, despite knowing that there is no money in their respective bank accounts. In such cases, now the civic administration will initiate to file criminal offence or book the default citizen under NIA. Moreover, the proposal seeking permission to impose fine on citizens whose cheque gets dishonoured is also under consideration of the administration," stressed the deputy commissioner and ACT.