No bidders for properties of tax defaulters in Gurugram

It would have been only the third time since its inception in 2008 that the MCG had undertaken an auction for recovering its property tax dues.

There were no takers for any of the 12 commercial properties that were auctioned by the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) on Tuesday, with officials stating that they are yet to take a decision on the next date of the auction.

There were no takers for any of the 12 commercial properties that were auctioned by the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) on Tuesday (HT File Photo)

The MCG had scheduled to auction the properties of defaulters at its Sector 34 office for recovering more than ₹36 lakh in property tax dues. MCG officials said they waited for more than four hours but not a single bidder attended the event, following which they called off the auction.

“We waited for more than four hours but not a single bidder came forward. At 2pm, we decided to call off the auction process. Currently, no decision has been taken on the next date of auctions,” said Dinesh Kumar, zonal taxation officer of the MCG.

It would have been only the third time since its inception in 2008 that the MCG had undertaken an auction for recovering its property tax dues.

Property tax is MCG’s main source of revenue. After netting just ₹196 crore in property tax in the 2018-19 fiscal, against the last fiscal where they had collected the highest amount through property tax — ₹342.24 crore, officials had introduced a rebate scheme along with the auctioning of properties for reducing the ₹146 crore deficit.

In November 2017, the MCG auctioned four properties in the city, the first such instance in Haryana. The next month, MCG auctioned six more properties. The 10 properties were auctioned for a cumulative sum of ₹7.75 crore.

Both these auctions had taken place at the Huda Gymkhana Club in Sector 29. With the MCG office located in an industrial sector, on the outskirts of the city, officials said that they are considering holding future auctions process at a more central location.

“When we held the auctions in 2017, more than 100 bidders attended. So, a lack of bidders is not a problem. In hindsight, we suspect that the location and lack of advertisements may have been the reason for no bidder coming forward. Hence, here onwards, we will choose the venue in a more centrally located part of the city,” a senior MCG official said.