MC recovers over Rs9.42 crore

Amit Sharma

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, December 13

With their stringent campaign against the property tax defaulters who had not paid the tax from last several years the Municipal Corporation (MC) has succeed in recovering Rs 9.42 crore this year.

This year total 5279 assesses were issued show-cause notices to recover around Rs 25.60 crores property tax. Lack of stringent action against the defaulters and an outdated collection system were resulting in revenue loss to the civic body from last several years following which MC initiated the process to serve notices to the defaulters.

MC Joint Commissioner Rajiv Gupta said earlier the violators didn’t receive the show-cause notices resulting which MC started pasting the notices outside properties and photograps were clicked as evidence.

“The move of pasting the notices helped in serving the purpose as the property owners started turning-up for the personal hearings”, Joint Commissioner added. MC officials said that during last around Rs 80 lakh tax was collected from the assesses.

Officials further said that there are around 10,000 assess whose records will be examined in the near future and those who have not paid the property tax will be served the notices to deposit the tax failing which their properties will be attached. The commercial property tax is one of the main sources of income of the MC. There are large number defaulters who have not paid property tax, amounting to several crores, ever since the tax was introduced in 2004.

MC is also in process of updating the records of the assesses which was not done since 2004 which many times led to confusion. “There has been instances when the property owners were served notices for not paying property tax, however, the property owners furnished the receipts of the tax being paid by them”, added the Joint Commissioner.