MADA has been appointed as the collector of bazaar tax. Picture by Gautam Dey

Dhanbad Sept. 24: The cash-starved Mineral Area Development Authority (MADA) has sent notices to corporate houses for non-payment of the “bazaar tax”, which came into effect from 16 January, 2006.

Tata Steel, Bharat Coking Coal Limited, Bokaro Steel Limited, IISCO, ACC Cements and more than 45 other industrial houses in the coal belt have received the notices.

Certain corporate houses, such as Eastern Coalfield Limited (ECL), have protested against the tax. The tax, levied by the state government, is on the sales and transaction of certain non-agricultural products. As industrial houses pay sales and income-tax, they are questioning the the levy.

Meanwhile, MADA authorities are seeking legal opinion and government directions on actions to be taken against defaulters.

MADA sources said the products on which bazaar tax has to be paid are coal, coke, stone chips, boulders, bricks, lime, sand, iron, steel, fabricated materials made of steel and iron, cements, chemicals, fertilisers, chemical products, explosives, zinc, air-conditioners, air-cooler and fire bricks.

MADA managing director A.B. Pati has deputed 60 persons for realisation of this tax on behalf of Jharkhand government.

To realise this new levy, MADA has asked the sales tax department to fetch the details from business houses about the sales and transactions of the taxable products.

Pati told The Telegraph that MADA was only the implementing authority and would only get a certain percentage of the collection. Till date, he added, MADA did not get proper response from the industrial houses.

“We will again explain the tax through newspapers. We have 60 officers for collection in Dhanbad and Bokaro,” added the MADA chief.