State Act

The Maharashtra Village Panchayats Act.

124. Levy of taxes and fees by panchayats.— (1) 4[Subject to the minimum and maximum rates which may be fixed by the State Government and in such manner and subject to such exemptions as may be prescribed, a Panchayat shall levy taxes referred to in 5[clauses (i), (i-a) and (i-aa)] of this sub-section and 6[where the panchayat has taken over any water supply schemes under sub-section (1) of section 45, it shall also levy taxes referred to in clauses (viii) and (xii) of this sub-section and the panchayat may levy all or any of the taxes and fees referred to in the remaining clauses of this sub-section.] (i) a tax on building (whether subject to payment of agricultural assessment or not) and lands (which are not subject to payment of agricultural assessment), within the limits of the village ; 7[(i-a) a betterment charges or the lands benefitted from schemes or projects under-taken by a panchayat from the village fund;] 8[(i-aa) the Local Panchayat Tax;] (ii) 9[* * * * * *] (iii) a pilgrims tax ; (iv) a tax on fairs, festivals and other entertainments ; (v) a tax on bicycles and on vehicles drawn by animals ; (vi) subject to the provisions of article 276 of the Constitution, a tax on the following professions, trades, calling or employments, that is to say :— (a) shop-keeping and hotel-keeping ; (b) any trade or calling (other than agriculture) which is carried on with the help of machinery run by steam, oil or electric power or by manual labour ; (c) the profession or calling of brokers in cattle markets ; (vii) a general sanitary cess for the construction or maintenance or both the construction and maintenance of public latrines and for the removal and disposal of refuse ; (viii) a general water rate which may be imposed in the form of a rate assessed on buildings and lands or in any other form as may be best adopted to the circumstances of any class of cases ; 1[(viii-a) a lighting tax ;] (ix) any other tax 2[(not being a tax or toll on motor vehicles save as provided in section 2 of the 3Bombay Motor Vehicles Tax Act, 1958 (Bom. LVX of 1958))] which the State Legislature has, under the Constitution, power to impose in the State and which has been sanctioned by the State Government ; (x) a fee on markets and weekly bazars ; (xi) a fee on cart-stand and tonga-stands ; (xii) a special water for water supplied by the panchayat through pipes, which may be imposed in any form including that of charges for such water supplied, fixed in such mode or modes as shall be best adopted in the circumstances of any class of cases ; (xiii) a fee for the supply of water from wells and tanks vesting in it, for purposes other than domestic use and for cattle ; (xiv) a fee for temporary erection on, or putting up projections over, or temporary occupation of, any public street or place ; (xv) a special sanitary cess upon private latrines, premises or compounds cleaned by the panchayat agency ; (xvi) a fee for cleaning a cess pool constructed on land whether belonging to a panchayat or not ; (xvii) a fee for grazing cattle or grazing lands vesting in a panchayat ; 4[(xviii) a fee on the registration of animals sold in any market or place belonging to or under the control of a panchayat.] (2) The tax on buildings or lands referred to in clause (i) of sub-section (1) shall be leviable from the owners or occupiers thereof : Provided that, when an owner of a building or land has left the village or cannot otherwise be found, any person to whom such building or land has been transferred shall be liable or the tax leviable from the owner. (3) The State Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, direct that tax upon buildings or lands referred to in clause (i) of sub-section (1) shall not be levied on all buildings and lands or on any class of building or lands situated in an area predominantly populated by members of Schedule Castes or Scheduled Tribes. 1[(3A) For the purposes of levying a betterment charge, the panchayat shall give notice to person believed to be owners of, or interest on the lands benefited by any scheme or project, make an inquiry and after hearing any objections, determine the lands benefited by the scheme or project, increase in the value of the lands as a result of any such scheme or project, the rate of betterment charge leviable on each of such lands and the date from which the betterment shall be leviable. The State Government may make rules for such supplemental and incidental matters including provisions for giving exemption from such charges in respect of the levy of betterment charges as it think fit.] 2[* * * *] (5) Any person aggrieved by assessment, levy or imposition of any tax or fee may appeal to the 3[Panchayat Samiti]. 4[A further appeal against the order of the Panchayat Samiti shall lie to the Standing Committee, whose decision shall be final.] 5[The first appeal shall be made within thirty days after the presentation of the bill complained, and the further appeal within thirty days from the date on which the Panchayat Samiti decides the appeal.] 6[(6) If at any time it appears to the State Government on complaint made or otherwise, that any tax or fee leviable by a panchayat is unfair in its incidence, or that the levy thereof, or any part thereof is obnoxious to the interest of the general public or violates any promises made or undertakings given by the State Government or adversely affects the development of the village or any part thereof, the State Government may require the said panchayat, within such period as it fixes in this behalf, to take measures for removing any objections which appears to it to exits to the said tax or fee. If, within the period so fixed, such requirement is not carried into effect to the satisfaction of the State Government may, giving the panchayat an opportunity to give an explanation, by notification in the Official Gazette, suspend the levy of such tax or fee, or such part thereof, until such time as the objection thereto is removed.]