Shell out Rs 100 to pay property tax at Sampark

Ramkrishan Upadhyay  

Tribune news service 

Chandigarh, May 14   

The decision of the Municipal Corporation to levy Rs 100 for depositing property tax at the sampark centres has drawn flak from residents, who termed the decision as arbitrary and unjustified.  

Sources said the MC had announced through a public notice that it would be charging Rs100 per transaction for accepting the tax at sampark centres. The residents will have to pay the charges of   Rs   100 irrespective of tax amount. If someone pays Rs 1,000 as tax then he will have to pay 100,  i.e. 10 per cent  over and above the  amount.   But one, who has to pay Rs 10,000 as tax, will also pay the same Rs 100, i.e. 1 per cent of the tax amount. 

Ajay Jagga, a resident who raised the issue with the administrator, said the   charges were causing anguish among the residents. Why would one have to pay charges for payment of tax? he asked. Moreover, this policy of imposing unjustified costs on the consumers is an unfair practice under the Consumer Protection Act, he added.   The  MC has  recently launched a self-assessment  scheme in which it has stated that the  residents  will have to pay  Rs 100 as fee per transaction. 

Sources said those were facilitation charges  levied  for the  facility the centres were providing to the  residents.