The civic octroi department, Pune has issued seizure notices to 4 leading banks for evading octroi on sale of gold coins and bars worth Rs. 2 crore. Octroi is a local tax on articles purchased for consumption.

The Pune Minicipal Corporation (PMC) had initially issued notices to 41 banks questioning them about their gold transactions. Out of these 20 banks responded clarifying that they did not deal in gold.

Of the rest 20, six had paid the taxes and thus final notices were issued to 15 banks. Cases were finally filed against 7 banks and the due date for the remaining has been extended to November 12, 2009.

Rajan Muthe, head of the octroi department, said that three banks have moved the court, while four others have been issued seizure notices. He added that dues worth Rs 4.04 crore had been paid and dues amounting to around Rs. 19.09 crore were still unpaid.

Muthe revealed that according to the information from the sales tax department, the revenue from gold is to the extent of Rs 1,000 crore in Pune.