Fewer takers for one-time settlement scheme in district

Aakanksha N Bhardwaj

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Jalandhar, December 4

A one-time settlement (OTS) scheme aiming to collect property tax has received only lukewarm response in the district. Only a few defaulters have turned up and deposited their tax. Officials said only Rs 3 crore has been recovered from property tax under the scheme when they were expecting much more.

“The scheme will end on December 31. We still want the maximum number of defaulters to come up and make maximum use of the scheme,” said Bhupinder Singh, Superintendent, Property Tax wing of MC.

Rs 45 cr target for this financial year

• The scheme was implemented in September to provide a major relief to defaulters who are otherwise supposed to pay 20 per cent penalty and 18 per cent interest on the outstanding principal amount of all previous fiscal years.
• A total of Rs 35 crore from property tax has already been recovered so farin this financial year. The target for this financial year is Rs 45 crore.

The scheme was implemented in September to provide a major relief to defaulters who are otherwise supposed to pay 20 per cent penalty and 18 per cent interest on the outstanding principal amount of all previous fiscal years.

Otherwise, Rs 35 crore from property tax has already been recovered until now in this financial year. The target for this financial year is Rs 45 crore.

There are around 1,65,000 taxable properties in the city, including residential and commercial.

Under the procedure of taking action against defaulters, the inspectors of property tax wing visit different areas to recover the tax. The defaulters who have not paid the tax are served a notice under Section 112 of the Municipal Corporation Act to which they have to file a reply within three days, failing which another notice of sealing the property is served under Section 138 of the Act.

The Jalandhar Municipal Corporation had been able to recover the highest property tax ever in terms of figures during the last financial year. The local body had recovered Rs 30 crore 75 lakh till December 31 2022. It was for the first time that the recovery had crossed the Rs 30 crore mark. In the financial year 2021-22, the recovered amount during the entire financial year was above Rs 29 crore.

Action against defaulters

Under the procedure of taking action against defaulters, inspectors of MC’s property tax wing visit different areas to recover the tax. The defaulters who have not paid the tax are served a notice under Section 112 of the Municipal Corporation Act to which they have to file a reply within three days, failing which another notice of sealing the property is served under Section 138 of the Act.