Over 1,200 persons yet to pay house tax in city

Sukhmeet Bhasin

Tribune News Service

Bathinda, March 23

Five year have passed since the house tax was abolished but at present, as many as 1,231 persons have not paid their house tax.

The Municipal Corporation, Bathinda, has declared all of them defaulters.

To increase the income of the civic bodies, the Punjab government had abolished the house tax in 2013, which was not imposed on commercial buildings. In place of house tax, it had started imposing property tax.

On the list of defaulters prepared by the MC, one dozen departments, including Railways and Doordarshan, are a part of it.

These departments have not paid their service tax and fire cess. The MC has made a plan for the recovery of pending tax by tightening noose around the defaulters in April.

At present, the MC is sending a notice under the Municipal Act for the sealing of the building to the defaulters. On the list of defaulters, there are some persons who have not paid their tax since 1972.

According to MC officials, around Rs 2 crore by way of house tax and fire cess is pending against 1,231 defaulters in the city. Even they are also facing legal proceedings in this regard.

The Divisional Railway Manager, Northern Railway, Ambala Cantt Division, is on the top of the list of service charge defaulters.

As per the record of the MC, an amount of Rs 90.90 lakh in form of service charge is outstanding against them. In recent years, the Railways has paid some tax, but it is not ready to pay the service charge as per the MC.

Every year, the Railways had to pay Rs 32 lakh as service charge and for which, the MC had written to the senior officials of the Railways.

The Employees Provident Fund Office (EPFO), Bathinda, is second on the list of those who did not pay the service charge. As per the civic body, the EPFO had to pay Rs 2.50 lakh as service charge every year and Rs 26.33 lakh is outstanding against it. While Doordarshan had to pay Rs 10.18 lakh every year and Rs 19.5 lakh is pending against it.

BSNL Bharat Nagar is also a defaulter for noting paying Rs 40,412 as house tax. Even the XEN of the Sirhind Canal office is also a defaulter as it had not paid house tax from 1996 to 2013, due to which Rs 9,376 of house tax and Rs 461 of fire cess is pending against it.

Even the XEN of the PWD Tehsil office also makes it to the defaulters’ list and Rs 40,625 house tax and Rs 2031 fire cess is pending against it.