Civic Budget 2023-24: MCD Passes Schedule of Taxes, Says Official

The Municipal Corporation of Delhi passed the “schedule of taxes” for the financial year 2023-24 on Wednesday, a senior official said.

The unprecedented move comes as Delhi is still to get a mayor, despite three attempts to hold the mayoral election.

According to the regular norms, the schedule of taxes and other elements proposed in a municipal budget are first discussed by various committees and then passed by a House, which is led by a mayor.

“The Corporation passed the schedule of taxes for the financial year 2023-24 today,” the official said.

It was passed by the special officer of the MCD.

The taxes, rates and cesses leviable in the year 2023-24 will remain the same that are prevalent as on today, the MCD said in a statement.

The municipal commissioner had presented the MCD budget in December which included the revised budget estimate for 2022-23 and budget estimate for 2023-24, an official source had said.

“The Corporation will pass the schedule of taxes (in civic budget 2023-24) tomorrow. The remaining part of the budget exercise will be carried out before March 31,” a senior official had told PTI on Tuesday.

“The MCD hopes that by that time the deliberative wing led by a mayor will be in place, which will pass the remaining part of the budget,” he had said.

As per the provisions of the DMC Act 1957, under the section 109, rates of various municipal taxes, rates and cesses levied, during the year 2023-24 are to be approved by the corporation on or before February 15.

Since the corporation has not come into existence, “the Special Officer, exercising the power of the corporation has approved the schedule of taxes for the financial year 2023-24”, the statement said.

At present, war widows, gallantry award winners in defence forces, police and paramilitary forces, as also civilians, who have received bravery awards of the highest order from the government, including annual bravery awards given by the President, are entitled for tax exemption under clause (vi) of sub-section 1 of section 115 of the DMC Act, 1957, the MCD said.

“It is decided that if such a property is jointly owned, then the spouse of the above said persons shall also be exempted from the property tax in regard to such property in the joint ownership. This exemption shall, however, apply with immediate effect,” it said.

On February 9, sources had said that the civic budget 2023-24 was likely to be passed by the special officer of the MCD as the mayoral election is still pending and less than a week was left to complete the budget exercise.

The municipal House in Delhi, on February 6, had failed to elect a mayor for the third time in a row in a month, following ruckus over the decision to allow aldermen to vote in the mayoral poll, even as the AAP alleged a “planned conspiracy” by the BJP to stall the process.

An agitated AAP, which is seeking a “court-monitored” election, had moved the Supreme Court on February 7 over the issue.

The Supreme Court on February 8 had sought responses of the office of the lieutenant governor, pro tem presiding officer of the MCD Satya Sharma, and others on a plea filed by AAP’s mayoral candidate Shelly Oberoi.

The office of the Delhi Lieutenant Governor on Monday told the Supreme Court that it would postpone the February 16 mayoral election to a date after February 17.

According to the norms, a budget is presented by a commissioner in a special meeting of the standing committee of the civic body, which is then taken up for discussion by chairpersons of different statutory and special committees and zonal ward committees.

Finally, the Leader of the House finalises the budget, which can accept or reject proposals made in a budget presented by a commissioner.

The original MCD, established in 1958, was trifurcated in 2012 during Sheila Dikshit’s tenure as Delhi chief minister.

The civic body in Delhi had 272 wards across its three corporations — NDMC, SDMC, and EDMC, which existed from 2012-2022 — before being reunified into a sole MCD which formally came into existence on May 22 last year.

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