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Non-payment of property tax: 9 commercial units sealed in Patiala
Fed up over the “reluctant attitude of tax defaulters”, the municipal corporation (MC) of Patiala sealed nine commercial establishments over non-fulfilment of property
Fed up over the “reluctant attitude of tax defaulters”, the municipal corporation (MC) of Patiala sealed nine commercial establishments over non-fulfilment of property taxes.
A civic body team, led by superintendents Raminder Singh and Sanjeev Garg, carried out the sealing process in different parts of the city including Sirhind road, factory area, focal point and Ablowal.
Meanwhile, two of the sealed units were soon reopened after their owners made property tax payments of ₹two lakh on the spot.
MC commissioner Poonamdeep Kaur said that the MC has already issued notices to seal units of at least 12,000 property tax defaulters.
“The sealing process has been initiated and not even a single defaulter will be let off easily. We have already issued multiple notices to defaulters to make payments or face action,” she said.
Mayor Sanjeev Sharma Bittu said that besides last year’s property tax, the owners of some cinemas have not paid the required property tax for 2013-2014 as well.
“Sealing of properties is a clear message to people that tax defaulters will not be spared at any cost. The sealing process will go on for some more days,” he said.
Property tax collection is the main income source for the MC, which is expecting to collect around ₹20.5 crore in 2019-2020.
The mayor said with the civic body completing its GIS software survey, it has added at least 1.46 commercial and residential establishments to its data.
“The municipal corporation has added 50,000 new units following the survey. Earlier the database had only 96,000 units under its purview,” he said.
The MC commissioner said that earlier, the lack of complete database related to total number of residential and commercial units entitled to paying property tax was hindering the civic body from taking required action against defaulters.
