Western Railways pay Rs 13.05 Crore to AMC after prolonged property tax dispute

Amdavad: Following a long-standing disagreement over property tax or service charge dues, the Western division of Indian Railways has paid Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) a sum of Rs 13.05 crore and has also committed to paying the remaining balance after reassessing railway properties and charges owed.

Jainik Vakil, chairman of AMC’s revenue committee, said, “I have been pursuing the matter for the past 18 months. An agreement was reached for the railways to pay 50% of the computed property tax as a service charge since they use certain services. Railway properties and dues were re-evaluated, and the Divisional Railway Manager agreed to pay the first installment of Rs 13.05 crore.”

The issue had been pending since 2010, and although the AMC still needs to recover Rs 10 crore, for that the valuation and measurement of the remaining property will also be redone, and a fresh bill will be issued to the railways.

In total AMC has recovered Rs 19.81 crore as service charges from government entities including railways, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), income tax and sales tax departments, ISRO, airport, and Employees’ State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) instead of property tax. DeshGujarat