Municipal Corporation of Gurugram seals 40 liquor shops and 12 ahatas

The Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) sealed 40 liquor shops and 12 ahatas on Friday morning for non-payment of property taxes.

The Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) sealed 40 liquor shops and 12 ahatas on Friday morning for non-payment of property taxes.

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Last month, the MCG has served notices to over 150 such establishments across the city, asking their owners to divulge details such as the size of their property, the year it was purchased, the type of property, and the last time they had paid property tax to the MCG. Officials said they sealed 40 establishments out after their owners failed to pay outstanding dues.

The MCG has been looking to boost its property tax collection by taking action against liquor store operators.

“Four tax branch teams of the MCG carried out sealing drives across their respective zones. Eleven liquor shops and three ahatas were sealed in zone 1, seven alcohol shops in zone 2, four alcohol shops in zone 3, 16 liquor shops and eight ahatas in zone 4. These properties were sealed as their owners failed to clear their outstanding dues despite the repeated issuance of notices. More such establishments will be sealed soon,” Dinesh Kumar, zonal taxation officer, said.

As per MCG officials, areas, where liquor shops and ahatas were sealed, include establishments near the Sikandarpur Metro station, near Bristol Chowk, near Signature Towers, Sector 30, Sadar Bazar, Gurudwara Road, and Sohna Chowk.

The sealing drive just comes a week after MCG officials announced they were looking to increase their property tax collection for 2020-21 fiscal. Officials said that they would set a budgeted target of ₹350 crore for the current fiscal.

As per the MCG’s official website, the civic body has so far collected around ₹180 crore against its budgeted target of ₹250 crore for 2019-20 fiscal.

Last month, a report from the directorate of Urban Local Bodies (ULB) revealed that the MCG has ₹350 crore outstanding dues to be collected in the form of property taxes.