Panchkula MC to put 645 property tax defaulters on notice

As many as 645 notices have been prepared that will be served on all property tax defaulters, giving them a week to deposit the outstanding amount, failing which Panchkula MC will begin sealing the buildings, including government offices

Having identified property tax defaulters who failed to clear their dues by March 31, 2023, the Panchkula municipal corporation (MC) will soon start issuing sealing notices.

As per MC records, several defaulters have not paid tax since 2010, when the Panchkula MC was constituted. (Stock photo)

As many as 645 notices have been prepared that will be served on all property tax defaulters, giving them a week to deposit the outstanding amount, failing which MC will begin sealing the buildings, including government offices.

As per MC records, several defaulters have not paid tax since 2010, when the Panchkula MC was constituted. In 2013, a notification was issued by the Haryana government to collect property tax retrospectively from 2010.

The corporation had previously also served notices to 119 defaulters whose dues had crossed ₹10 lakh. But so far, none of them has paid up.

“After notices, people are turning up to get corrections in the property tax data instead of paying up,” shared a senior MC official.

MC had also started uploading the list of defaulters on its website, but failed to shake them.

As such, MC will now be serving sealing notices to defaulters, including private and government properties, whose outstanding property tax is more than ₹1 lakh.

Municipal commissioner Sachin Gupta said out of the 645 defaulters, 458 were private properties, whose tax arrears were between ₹3 lakh and ₹10 lakh, including Era Institute in Sector 14, Suraj Theatre in Sector 1, Big Byte in Sector 9, Hans Raj Public School in Sector 6, Plot Numbers 5 and 22 in IT Park, and Satluj Public School in Sector 4.

“Also on the list are 187 government properties, including Tau Devi Lal Stadium, Gymkhana Club in Sector 3, Gymkhana Club in MDC-1, UHBVN, Women and Child Development Office in Sector 4 and District Courts,” he added.

The commissioner said the government properties owed MC ₹35 crore in all.

Earlier in June, the commissioner had directed MC officials to identify the defaulters and upload their details on their corporation’s website, before issuing notices.

“The defaulters need to clear the dues within a week after getting the notices. We will begin sealing their properties if they continue to default on payment,” Gupta said.

Mayor Kulbhushan Goyal said, “MC was suffering financially due to annual shortfall in property tax revenue, which was further affecting the city’s development. The defaulters should deposit their property tax on time to avoid penalty.”