E-Paper
Hard pressed for funds, Chandigarh MC cracks whip on property tax defaulters
As per MC’s official data, commercial and government buildings alone owe the corporation a whopping ₹250 crore in property tax/ service tax, which is a major source of its annual revenue. However, from the total amount, ₹187 crore remains in litigation or is disputed
In a push for financial accountability, Chandigarh municipal commissioner Amit Kumar on Monday issued a stern warning to major property tax defaulters, primarily government buildings, to clear outstanding dues, reconcile discrepancies or face strict action.
The commissioner held a high-level meeting with the top 10 defaulters in each category —government commercial buildings, autonomous commercial buildings and government residential buildings, emphasising that continued delay could lead to strict action against them.
“We are regularly issuing notices to property tax defaulters, both in commercial and residential categories. However, on Monday, the top 10 defaulters from each major category were called for a meeting. They have been urged to clear their pending dues and in case of discrepancies, reconcile the data with MC in the next two days. We will take strict action against them in case of further delay,” said Kumar.
There are around 30,000 commercial units (non-residential properties) in Chandigarh, including government buildings, that pay property tax to MC. A total of 1,08,372 residential properties in the city are also charged property tax at a fixed rate.
As per MC’s official data, commercial and government buildings alone owe the corporation a whopping ₹250 crore in property tax/ service tax, which is a major source of its annual revenue. However, from the total amount, ₹187 crore remains in litigation or is disputed.
Besides this, the residential buildings also owe ₹15.8 crore to the corporation. Panjab University (PU), Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), Punjab Engineering College (PEC) and Chandigarh Golf Club are among the major defaulters (see box). The list of defaulters runs long, comprising 670 buildings of the governments of Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and the Centre in Chandigarh. Even the UT administration is yet to clear its tax dues.
The MC’s decision to target the biggest defaulters comes amidst its ongoing financial crisis which has forced it to halt all development-related works across the city since May this year. After Punjab governor and UT administrator Gulab Chand Kataria refused to release any ‘special grant’ and directed officials to cut down on annual expenses and increase revenue from own sources, the MC has started to look for ways to recover the pending arrears, especially of pending property tax dues and water bill dues.
The MC has only two remedies to defaulters, as per Punjab Municipal Corporation Act. It can issue a notice to defaulters and thereon, proceed with sealing the property in question if dues remain unpaid- a provision hard to implement on ground. But sealing of institutes such as PGI, PU or UT buildings would be more difficult.
Try to make solid waste mgmt self-sustainable: Mayor
Mayor Dhalor on Monday also chaired a meeting of all heads of the department of different MC wings to discuss scope of revenue generation. The mayor asked the officers to recover the water arrears and penalise defaulters as per rules. “Replace faulty meters and leakages at the earliest immediately. Also, find ways to curtail expenses on solid waste management in the city and gather ideas from different municipalities throughout the country, where self-sustainable steps are being taken. Also, prepare a list of vacant properties so that the same may be rented out and a recovery process be initiated against the defaulters,” the mayor directed to officers. The mayor said that any kind of recovery from mobile tower fee defaulters should be made at the earliest and revenue model be chalked out to generate income from display advertisements. He said that handsome revenue may be generated from gyms in community centres throughout the city.
