Sealing drive against property tax defaulters yields results in Karnal

The ongoing crackdown on property tax defaulters by the Karnal Municipal Corporation (KMC) has started yielding encouraging results, with several defaulters coming forward to clear their outstanding dues. In just over a month since the sealing process began, the civic body has managed to collect Rs 5.80 crore from property tax defaulters.

As per the property tax branch officials, the sealing drive was initiated on June 13 as part of a focused effort to recover pending dues. The city has a total of 1,70,758 registered properties, including 86,451 domestic, 14,906 commercial, 1,255 industrial, 1,326 institutional, 50,686 vacant plots, 2,018 properties under special categories such as banquet halls, restaurants, banks and marriage palaces, 7,960 mixed-use properties, and 6,156 agricultural properties. However, only 58,120 of these properties have been self-certified by the owners, raising concerns about tax compliance.

As per data provided by the MC, a total of Rs 320 crore is pending as property tax dues. Of this amount, around Rs 120 crore is owed by the public, while the remaining Rs 200 crore is due from various government institutions, including both Union and state government bodies.

The MC has set a target of collecting Rs 25 crore in property tax. It had collected Rs 11.70 crore in the previous financial year. It has issued notices to property tax defaulters and started the sealing process from June 13. So far this financial year, it has already collected Rs 8.15 crore, with Rs 5.80 crore coming from the sealing process alone.

MC Commissioner Dr Vaishali Sharma said the civic body was actively issuing notices to defaulting property owners, urging them to deposit their pending dues to avoid further action. “The sealing drive is proving effective, and we appeal to all defaulters to clear their dues at the earliest,” she added.

Sharma said the drive would continue in the coming weeks. “We have identified 26 schools which have around Rs 2 crore unpaid property tax. We have issued them the notices that their properties will be sealed,” she said. Some school operators responded by paying the due tax, many have still failed to comply, the Commissioner said.

Sharma made it clear that if the private schools and commercial establishments did not deposit their property tax, the corporation would proceed with the attachment of their properties without delay.