Haryana Cabinet okays new ‘panchayat tax’ on power bills to empower Panchayats

Haryana Polity and Governance

The Haryana government on Wednesday decided to levy a 2 per cent “panchayat tax” on power bills for consumers who fall within the limits of the rural bodies in the state, triggering an opposition demand for its rollback.
Officials said electricity consumption for agriculture and some other categories is exempted from the tax.
An official statement issued here said the state government has decided to levy the tax on use of electricity in order to augment the financial resources of gram panchayats.
But it will not apply on “consumption of electricity by the government of India or if it is consumed in the construction, maintenance or operation of any railway by the Centre or on consumption by agriculture consumers within the limits of gram panchayats in the state,” it added.
Khattar later said the move would garner an additional Rs 100-125 crore annually for the panchayats which then can be used in their developmental work.
The panchayat tax will be collected by the Uttar Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (UHBVN) and the Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (DHBVN) and paid in the same manner as if it was an electricity duty payable to the state government, and same will be remitted to the gram panchayats concerned, the statement said.