Malda: EBM to serve notices to collect about Rs 30 cr pending dues

Malda: The English Bazar Municipality (EBM) has decided to send notices to various offices and private enterprises seeking overdue payments. The pending taxes and service charges have already reached an amount of almost Rs 30 crore. The EBM authorities are very concerned over the situation as expenditure capacity of the civic body largely depends on this collection.

Among the non-payers of taxes and service charges, there are government offices, Railways, telecom, shopping malls, flats, nursing homes, domestic houses and many more. EBM is yet to get almost Rs 6 crore from nearly 48,000 households, another Rs 6 crore from commercial buildings and nursing homes, Railways and Telecom department have dues of almost Rs 1.5 crore. Service tax amounting to almost Rs 17 crore is pending to be paid from various government offices. The civic body has employees visiting door-to-door for collecting taxes. Online payment system to pay taxes has also been started by the EBM but the mass disinclination to pay the taxes seems to have become a habit, claims civic authorities.

Krishnendu Narayan Choudhury, chairman of EBM, said: “Everyone is enjoying the municipal services but at the time of paying the taxes, none come forward. We face great difficulties in paying the monthly remuneration of the casual staff so it has been decided to send notices. If the dues are still not paid, we will take legal steps.”