E-Paper
Ludhiana MC to charge commercial tax on residential rental properties
‘REVENUE BOOST’ Owners of rented houses, labour quarters, paying guest facilities will now be charged 7.5% tax on income instead of residential tax of 3%
The fund-starved municipal corporation (MC) has decided to levy commercial tax on residential rental properties, including rented houses, labour quarters, paying guest (PG) accommodations, etc and owners will now be charged 7.5% tax on rental income instead of the earlier residential tax of 3%.
The decision was taken at a meeting held late Wednesday evening. The meeting, chaired by mayor Balkar Singh Sandhu, decided that the new tax rate would be implemented with immediate effect.
Sandhu said the MC General House had already approved a resolution and the local bodies department had given a free hand to the MC for taking a decision on the issue.
He said owners of residential rental properties were earning profits in the form of rent and were also putting extra burden on the MC infrastructure such as sewers, sewer treatment plants (STPs), etc. But, so far they were paying only 3% tax under the residential category. MC commissioner Kanwalpreet Kaur Brar had been asked to issue orders to this effect, he said.
The mayor said he had also directed the MC staff to commence a sealing drive against the liquor vend owners, who had failed to pay property tax. As per information, there are around 300 liquor vends in the city and, till now, property tax had been paid against 50% vends only.
Earlier, the MC had fixed tax slabs for around 300 liquor vends, situated in the city, falling in three categories. As per information, ₹45,000 per annum will be collected from the vends falling under category-1, ₹30,000 and ₹15,000 from the vends under category 2 and 3 respectively. The vends have been categorised on the basis of the location of the vend.
WATER-SEWER CONNECTIONS OF DEFAULTERS TO BE SNAPPED
As the local bodies department has floated the ‘one time settlement’ scheme for payment of pending water-sewer charges without interest and penalty, the civic body has decided to snap water-sewer connections of defaulters with defaulting amount of ₹50,000 and above (excluding interest and penalty). The mayor said if residents failed to clear the dues, their connections would be snapped.
MC TO CRACK WHIP ON TAX EVADERS
It was brought to light at the meeting that many commercial property owners were evading tax by paying water-sewer charges under the commercial category. The mayor said he had decided to crack whip on such evaders and fee would be charged under the commercial category from the time the owner availed connection. The amount already paid under the residential category would be adjusted, he added.
As per information, the MC had already identified 72 such properties in Zone C and there are hundreds of such properties in the city, said an MC official.
REGULARISATION OF WATER-SEWER CONNECTION
Now only power bill is required as a requisite document to get water-sewer connection regularised. Earlier, the MC used to ask for a copy of land registry (sale deed) and unique identification (UID) number. The MC is conducting inspections across the city to check illegal water-sewer connections. The mayor said he had directed the MC staff that they should not delay the process of regularising illegal connections.
CITY GETS ODF-PLUS STATUS
The municipal corporation (MC) has received open defecation-free (ODF) plus certificate from the Quality Council of India (QCI) in the second attempt.
The certificate has been given after third party inspections conducted in the first week of February. The ODF plus status is also one of the components of the swachh survekshan (cleanliness survey) and this will also improve the city’s ranking.
The inspections had been conducted at various points, including public toilets, community toilets, slum areas, etc. The MC has constructed 18 community toilets and 40 public toilets in the city. In December last year, the MC claimed to have improved the condition of existing public toilets and established new toilets under the Smart City Mission. Sanitary napkin vending machines with a feedback system have also been installed at a dozen public toilets along with steps taken to improve hygiene and cleanliness.
The MC had got the ODF tag in September 2018 and officials had said their focus was now to obtain the ODF plus status. In January, a team, constituted by the QCI, conducted inspections in the city. But, the MC failed to obtain the certificate in the first attempt due to the absence of wash basins outside portable toilets in the city, absence of advertisement panels outside public toilets and air fresheners, etc.
