Pravin Darekar Seeks Refund Mechanism For Wrongful Recovery Of Scrapped Non-Agricultural Tax

Mumbai: Pravin Darekar, Chairman of Maharashtra Housing Self/Redevelopment Authority and BJP MLA, has called for a refund mechanism for wrongly recovered non-agricultural (NA) tax from cooperative housing societies. He urged Revenue Minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule to establish a process to refund amounts already collected. Bawankule instructed officials to draft a clear standard operating procedure (SOP) to resolve the issue.

A meeting was held at Mantralaya to discuss problems faced by cooperative housing societies engaged in self-redevelopment. Darekar noted that registered cooperative housing societies have a separate legal identity, but they often have to repeatedly visit revenue offices after obtaining conveyance deeds, leading to wasted time and money.

He proposed that a standardized procedure should be introduced where the registering authority electronically forwards the registered deed to the concerned revenue office, which then records the society's name on the property card or 7/12 extract and makes the updated documents available online. Darekar also demanded a government resolution clarifying that a separate hearing by revenue authorities is not necessary in such cases.

He further advocated for a uniform SOP to be implemented across tehsils, talukas, and districts, and an online mutation process for cooperative housing societies. Darekar suggested a fixed time limit for recording a society's name on the property card and clear guidelines on old outstanding dues. He called for resolving disputes between MHADA and the Revenue Department and appointing a nodal officer to ensure coordination among the departments.