Nagpur: Leading trade associations in Nagpur including CAMIT and NVCC have welcomed the Maharashtra Government’s decision to close the LBT Department across all Municipal Corporations of the State by April 30, 2025.
The Chamber of Associations of Maharashtra Industry and Trade (CAMIT) has lauded the Maharashtra Government’s decision dated February 24, 2025, directing the closure of Local Body Tax (LBT) departments in all Municipal Corporations across the State. Dr Dipen Agrawal, President of CAMIT, welcomed this move, calling it a long-overdue relief for traders and businesses. Dr Agrawal highlighted that LBT, introduced in select municipal corporations in 2010 and in Nagpur from 2013, was met with widespread opposition from the trading community.
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While LBT was abolished from July 31, 2015, for businesses with a turnover below Rs 50 crore and later subsumed into the Goods and Services Tax (GST) from July 1, 2017, the LBT departments continued to operate, conducting arbitrary and unjustified assessments. Contrary to the LBT Rules, which mandated assessments only in specific contingencies within five years from the financial year’s close, LBT officers resorted to 100% assessments of regular cases, turning the department into an instrument of harassment and extortion. There were also instances of backdated assessment orders being issued, further exacerbating traders’ grievances.
CAMIT persistently pursued the matter at various levels, ultimately engaging directly with Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. Expressing gratitude on behalf of Maharashtra’s trading community, Dr. Agrawal praised the Government’s responsiveness to traders’ concerns. “The business community is at a loss for words to express its appreciation for the sensitivity and fairness displayed by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis in addressing this long-pending issue. The closure of the LBT departments should not be viewed as a victory of one side over another but as a testament to the Government’s commitment to justice, equity, and ease of doing business,” he said.
The Nag Vidarbha Chamber of Commerce (NVCC), one the leading and traders’ organisations of Vidarbha, has wholeheartedly welcomed this decision of the Maharashtra Government. Chamber President Arjundas Ahuja said, “The State Government has abolished the LBT law from the year 2017. But, traders were being harassed by the local administration in the name of the LBT assessment process.”
Ahuja further said, “After various representations to the State Government they have finally accepted the Chamber’s request and decided to close the Local Body Tax Department, which is welcome.” “This has brought great relief to the traders from the problems being faced due to the LBT assessment process. This has brought a wave of happiness among the traders of the State,” Ahuja added.
