Paonta Sahib residents owe house tax of over Rs 8 crore to MC

Nahan, January 21

Residents of the Paonta Sahib Municipal Council (MC) owe a house tax of more than Rs 8 crore, with several defaulters failing to pay the tax since 2002. There are 13 wards in the MC area in which there are about 7,500 residential and commercial buildings. Since 2002, the council had started levying housing tax, which has, however, not been deposited by residents even after more than 20 years.

In 2018-19, the MC gave a 30-per cent rebate on tax in a bid to get some payments but only a few people deposited the house tax, which was less than 2 per cent of the total amount. Rent of around Rs 40 lakh from shops has also not been deposited by the tenants yet. Recovery notices are now being issued by the MC to the defaulters.

Apart from this, the MC is planning to act against the tenants who sublet MC shops to other people. Such shops are being identified by conducting a detailed survey in the town.

MC Executive Officer and Paonta Sahib SDM Gunjit Singh Cheema said Rs 8-10 crore in lieu of house tax was pending. He has appealed to the public to deposit the house tax at the earliest.

When asked whether this residential tax is applicable on the buildings of government departments also, he said currently information was being collected about the number of government buildings.

Paonta Sahib Municipal Council chief Nirmal Kaur said the issue regarding house tax was often raised at the House meetings. She said people, who have huge house tax dues, could also deposit it in installments.