MARGAO
Are Madgavkars surprised over the claim made by Margao Civic chief Damu Shirodkar that an ongoing survey had unearthed startling facts that 45 per cent of the business establishments in the commercial Capital are operating sans the mandatory trade licence?
No, not at all, as a GIS survey report prepared way back in 2019 by a private agency had shed light on the huge revenue leakage in the civic body by way of trade licences amounting to crores of rupees.
Welcome to the Margao Municipal Council, where survey and inspection reports are left to gather dust in the cupboards for years together sans implementation. In fact, blame it on political will or otherwise, one hardly comes across action by the civic body to recover the huge outstanding tax arrears or implement the survey reports indicating that thousands of business establishments are operating sans the mandatory trade license and other taxes.
Take the case of the 2019 GIS Survey report in point. The GIS survey had revealed the huge revenue potential from business establishments, operating sans trade licence, only if the City Fathers and the Municipal Babus display the will to bring the defaulting establishments under the tax net.
Otherwise, consider this. The GIS survey report and the revenue potential has come under the Goa government’s Audit, but the city Fathers and Municipal Babus had turned a blind eye to the revenue leakage for reasons best known to them.
“The Margao Civic Chief has promised to initiate action against the 45 per cent business establishments which are operating sans the mandatory trade licence. He should explain to Madgavkars why the GIS survey report, which has promised to enrich the civic coffers by crores of rupees is not implemented till date”, questioned a Municipal official.
What’s interesting to note is that the issue on the 2019 survey report and the delay in the implementation of the survey report had figured prominently in the 2024 Budget session of the Goa Legislative Assembly, but the MMC is yet to implement the report till date.
A retired MMC employee told The Goan that apart from the GIS report, a number of surveys carried out by the Margao Municipal over the last two decades have been gathering dust in the civic body for want of implementation.
As reported by The Goan, the government Audit had observed that no reassessment of any tax has been conducted based on the data from the GIS Survey, resulting in a loss of revenue from 2018 to 2023-24. In fact, the Audit has further observed that the failure to reassess based on the GIS survey has resulted in substantial revenue loss amounting to Rs 20.65 crore.
