MC to intensify drive to recover property, water tax

Tribune News Service

Bathinda, February 26

The Municipal Corporation Bathinda (MCB) has planned to intensify its drive to recover outstanding property and sewerage/ water tax by tightening the noose around defaulters in the city.

To achieve the target of property tax recovery, set at Rs 11.50 crore for 2018-19, the MCB’s tax branch has started issuing notices to defaulting residents.

As per MCB officials, more than 17,000 commercial and residential units have not paid property tax this year so far, due to which notices were issued to them under Section 138 of the Municipal Act. The corporation had issued maximum notices to those who had not paid residential property tax from the past five years. Sources said after getting the notice, a large number of residents had turned up to pay the tax.

It is pertinent to mention that the MCB is facing the problem of non-payment of taxes as far as residential units are concerned. The civic body had started a drive against the defaulters of commercial tax in the city, as a result of which a large number of people paid their commercial property tax but no action was ever taken against defaulting residential units, due to which the latter did not pay taxes from the past some years.

Apart from this, the MCB is also tightening noose against the defaulters of sewerage and water bills. The corporation has planned to hand over the work of bill recovery to Triveni Company. The company will be tasked with recovering outstanding tax amount of around Rs 10 crore.

Mayor Balwant Rai Nath said the residents were not paying property tax on residential units due to which the MCB was facing huge losses. To counter the same, the corporation had issued notices to them. With the hiring of the private firm for collection of sewerage and water bills in the city, the corporation was hopeful of reaching its tax recovery targets, the Mayor added.