Drive against non-payment of house tax & trade licence
MARGAO
After dragging its feet for around a year now, the Pantaloons showroom housed at the Osia commercial complex was finally sealed by the Margao Municipal Council on Monday, even as the civic body cracked a whip against five other business establishments across the city by sealing the premises for non-payment of house tax and trade licence.
Chief Officer Siddivinayak Naik, Accounts and Administration officer, Damodar Elekar and a team of municipal workers descended at the Pantaloons mall on Monday evening and carried out the sealing operation. The action comes around 12 days after the civic body had issued a notice on the premise owner to remit an amount of Rs 34.25 lakh to enable the municipality to issue the trade and occupation licence to Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail Ltd.
MMC Chief Officer Siddivinayak Naik told The Goan that the Pantaloons showroom has been sealed after the owner failed to pay the required taxes. “We had issued a notice on the owner to clear the revised house tax amounting to Rs 34.25 lakh. Since the owner did not pay the taxes, the civic body sealed the premised today,” he said, adding that the municipality will unseal the premises only after the owner clears the dues.
Municipal Chairperson Babita Prabhudesai told the media that the Pantaloons showroom will remain sealed till the establishment clear the taxes, including the trade licence and the house tax.
The Pantaloons showroom at the Osia commercial complex had been the cynosure of all eyes as questions were raised whether the establishment had cleared the house tax and trade licence before starting the operations.
A senior MMC official said the civic body has raised the revised house tax bill since the time the showroom had commenced its operations.
Meanwhile, the MMC continued its crackdown on business establishments operating without the mandatory trade licences and non-payment of house tax. The Municipal team descended along the New Era school road and sealed five shops, including an electronic shop, a sweet mart, a glass fitting unit. “When we asked these establishments to produce the trade licence and the house tax as they were operating from rented premises, they could not furnish any documents. Hence, these establishments were sealed in today’s operation and will remain shut till the owners produce the necessary documents or pay the taxes,” informed AAO Damodar Elekar.
