TOI : octroi vigilance team under vigilance : Oct 26,2007
Now, octroi vigilance team under vigilance
Yogesh Naik I TNN
Mumbai: Suspecting that the vigilance wing of the assessment and collection department (A & C) is hand-in-glove with octroi evaders, the top bosses in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) have asked its other vigilance teams to keep a close eye on the vigilance team of the octroi department.
The A and C department, which collects octroi and property taxes in Mumbai, is headed by deputy assessor and collector B S Mandve.
The civic administration has asked vigilance officer on special duty (VOSD) S R Rana and test audit and vigilance officer (TAVO) Shivaji Marathe to keep an eye on Mandve痴 wing.
Mandve has six teams for raiding various places and octroi nakas in Mumbai, but complaints have begun pouring in about their involvement in abetment of crime.
Confirming this, joint municipal commissioner V Radha said, 典he countdown to Diwali has begun. A lot of vehicles with goods are coming in. I have asked the TAVO and VOSD to form crack teams and have separate wings of vigilance over the A and C vigilance team. This is the first time we are trying this out.鋳
Assessor and collector B S Umbarje too confirmed that external vigilance agencies had been told to keep a check on the octroi vigilance team, but he claimed that this had been done to increase vigilance on octroi evaders.
The corporation collected Rs 3,450 crore by way of octroi last fiscal and this year痴 target is Rs 4,000 crore. However, Radha has informed her superiors that only 40% of the collectible octroi is actually received from the traders. Octroi officials take bribes and give concessions in the octroi duty, said sources in BMC.
Radha was also upset to find that members of her own staff were hand-in-glove with evaders. When senior officials realised that the vigilance team of the A and C department was only picking up a few select cases, they decided to tighten the vigilance by appointing external agencies. Mandwe denied there was external vigilance on his department. He also stoutly denied charges of corruption by his wing.
When Radha suspended an A and C inspector, the Municipal Mazdoor Union raised a hue and cry about it and a former chief minister called up the municipal commissioner for his reinstatement.
yogesh.naik@timesgroup.com
TAXING TIME: The BMC collected Rs 3,450 crore by way of octroi last year
Publication:Times Of India Mumbai; Date:Oct 26, 2007; Section:Times City; Page Number:2
URL : http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Repository/ml.asp?Ref=VE9JTS8yMDA3LzEwLzI2I0FyMDAyMDQ=&Mode=HTML&Locale=english-skin-custom