PCB continues to charge ‘tax’ even as Centre scraps vehicle entry fee in Cantonment areas

The Khadki Cantonment Board (KCB) and the Dehu Street Cantonment Board (DCB), although, have scrapped the fees with rapid impact.

“Now we have not obtained any letter for abolition of the car entry tax. The KCB and DCB have been levying car entry payment and subsequently, they will need to have obtained the directives. Since PCB together with the Cantonments in Aurangabad and Ahmednagar have been levying car entry tax and never charges, the order just isn’t relevant to us. Therefore, we’ll proceed to gather the tax,” mentioned Amit Kumar, chief government officer (CEO) of PCB. Kumar, nonetheless, added, “We count on there can be one other letter concerning discontinuation of the tax. As and after we obtain the order, we’ll cease gathering the tax.”

Pramod Singh, CEO of KCB who additionally holds the cost of DCB, mentioned, “Now we have instantly stopped gathering the charges in each the Cantonment areas. Earlier than Covid, we used to gather Rs 16 crore yearly. However throughout the Covid interval, the quantity had come down.”

Officers mentioned the Directorate Common of Defence Estates has not specified how it will compensate the Cantonment boards for the loss in income from the charges.

In a letter despatched to Principal Director, Defence Estates, the Directorate Common, Defence Estates, mentioned, “It’s noticed that assortment of car entry payment by Cantonment boards by putting in barricades, nakas and assortment kiosks doesn’t conform to the Authorities’s initiative in the direction of clean motion of products and visitors, and impedes the efforts in the direction of ease of dwelling and ease of doing enterprise. It has, subsequently, been determined that assortment of car entry payment by Cantonment boards be stopped forthwith. The mechanism for searching for proportionate share from the State Authorities company/municipality out of any such comparable charges being imposed by them on entry of autos centrally could also be thought of suitably.”

Welcoming the directives, Domnic Lobo, former vice-president of Khadki Cantonment Board, mentioned, “For lengthy, the Cantonment boards have been committing injustice on residents. Although the central authorities had emphasised that there needs to be no a number of taxes within the nation, the Cantonment boards have been defying the directives.”