LMC finds ‘musical’ way to catch property tax defaulters, makes hotel pay Rs 19 lakh

On the very first day of the Lucknow Municipal Corporation’s (LMC) drive to name and shame owners of commercial and residential properties who have pending tax dues of over Rs 1 lakh, the civic body scored a success.

The LMC team arrived at the doorstep of a tax defaulting hotel on Sapru Marg on Tuesday and started beating drums. Officials said the panicked management immediately decided to settle a part of the pending dues to save face in front of their customers.

“The hotel management prepared a cheque of Rs 19 lakh for the Lucknow Municipal Corporation without losing any time. Their total tax dues are to the tune of Rs 33 lakh,” said additional municipal commissioner Amit Kumar.

Earlier on Monday, Ashok Singh, chief tax fixation officer of the municipal corporation had said that tax evaders would be embarrassed by the LMC by drums being beaten outside their establishments and notices being pasted on their doors.

LMC has decided to go for this unique measure, as it has failed to recover taxes from many defaulters despite issuing a number of property seizure notices. “Several  defaulters have shown  reluctance in receiving our legal notices. For such people, the strategy is to  paste the notices on the doors of their residential / commercial premises,” said Singh. 

A video of the incident was shared on Twitter by ANI. 

#WATCH Lucknow: As part of a new drive by Lucknow Municipal Corporation, 'dhols' were played in front of a defaulter's property, to spread awareness among people to pay House Tax. pic.twitter.com/QIpRBcQlkX

— ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) July 3, 2019

Tweeple wholeheartedly welcomed this name and shame drive by LMC and showered several comments on the post.

Innovative ideas.. Like it

— db (@Adeepakbhandari) July 3, 2019

No need to play dhol, cut water and electricity and they will come running to pay tax

— Indian (@sbcrksy) July 3, 2019

Interesting 😂😂😂😂

— Singh K D (@kamdevsingh) July 3, 2019

Must be accompanied by a song such as " TAX CHURA LE GAYE SANAM "

— Suraj Pal 🇮🇳 (@SurajPal7045) July 3, 2019

Good thinking

— Rudraa (@Haryanviiiii) July 3, 2019

What do you think about this drive by LMC?