Gurgaon: Staring at a funds crunch to carry out development work in the city, MCG is now seeking suggestions from the ward councillors to boost its coffers.
Few councillors have already raised the issue of funds crunch and slow recovery of dues by the civic body. Earlier this year, some of them had even suggested a slew of measures to boost the civic body’s revenue collection but MCG officials did not pay much heed to those ideas.
Now, in a letter to the MCG commissioner, mayor Madhu Azad has urged him to write to the ward councillors and invite their suggestions to improve revenue collection for financial stability.
“The councillors have been asked to submit their suggestions within seven days, after which a comprehensive report based on their ideas will be prepared by senior officials. If the ideas are workable, the corporation will implement them for boosting revenue,” a senior MCG official told TOI.
Earlier this year, the councillors had raised the issue of financial crisis due to non-recovery of funds and demanded a review of methods for revenue collection and generation.
On the lines of licenced colonies, where developers charge water fees from residents and a share goes to HSVP, the councillors had suggested that MCG could develop a scheme to levy flat rate charges on residents.
“Builders are pocketing this amount running into crores, as of now. Not only revenue of more than Rs 100 crore can easily be generated in this manner but also wastage of water can be prevented,” said a councillor.
“The corporation has over Rs 600 crore pending with various government departments, including DHBVN, HSVP, HSIIDC. All taxes collected through stamp duty, electricity duty, and transfer and extension fees should be properly recorded, while pending dues should be followed up and collected in a time-bound manner,” said another councillor.
Another major concern, pointed out by the councillors, was poor collection against purchasable floor area ratio (FAR). The councillors had also raised the issue of advertising policy. “Currently, there is no proper policy for advertisements in societies and builders areas, whereas private developers are making crores from it. A policy of 50% revenue sharing from these areas can be implemented,” said another councillor.