Rs 89 lakh tax arrears recovered from BRC

The Surat Municipal Corporation (SMC) has recovered Rs 89 lakh as municipal taxes from Baroda Rayon Corporation (BRC). The BRC has thus cleared its tax arrears for seven years to March 31, 2004.

"We have collected all the taxes from the BRC till March 31st 2004", a SMC official said.

The break up of the collection was: Rs 32 lakh as tax arrears and Rs 57 lakh as interest and penalty. "The BRC was not paying its full installment of municipal taxes but was only making partial payment since 1996-97 on the grounds that it was facing financial problems," a SMC official said. But since 1999-2000, the BRC totally stopped paying taxes.

This had forced the SMC to take over BRC's property at the Fatehnagar estate on the Surat-Navsari Road and auction it in 2002. But the BRC management succeeded in stalling the SMC move by approaching the Bombay Debt Recovery Tribunal, which issued an interim stay order against the SMC.

Meanwhile, SMC South Zone had initiated several steps, including litigation in the Bombay Debt Tribunal, Gujarat High Court and the local courts, to recover its dues.

Succeeding in its endeavor, the SMC finally recovered Rs 30,72,124 in January 2003 and Rs 72,61,588 in March 2003 as award of the land acquired.

Though the SMC earned a hefty amount in both these awards, the BRC had piled up huge debts in tax arrears leaving a total shortfall of Rs 89 lakh.