Mumbai
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has decided to attach properties of those who have defaulted on property tax running in lakhs and crores.
Updated : Mar 15, 2012, 12:29 AM IST
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has decided to attach properties of those who have defaulted on property tax running in lakhs and crores.
After getting a weak response to the legal notices and reminders it had sent, BMC commissioner Subodh Kumar has directed his staff to be stricter in tackling the issue of recovery from the next fiscal.
“Commissioner has asked officials to make sure that property tax recovery is done periodically. If the defaulters do not respect the deadline, they should not be spared,” said a senior official from the assessor and collector department.
Officials claimed that while the list has hundreds of names, dues of the top 10 defaulters run into crores. “Until now, they were served notices and reminders, but now, the BMC will initiate legal proceedings against them. It will start the process of attaching property once the time period given to them is over,” said an official.
The assessor and collector department feels this will help to boost BMC’s revenue as nobody would like to enter into legal tangles. The department, however, is also preparing for the number of court cases the civic body will invite due to this new decision.
“We are not worried about the court cases. Until now, when we sent notices, the defaulters used to approach the court and the cases would stay pending. Now, we will straight away start the process of property attachment,” the official said.
Kumar has asked officials of other departments as well to be aggressive in recovering dues. “Recently, the water connection to the residence of ex-chief minister AR Antulay was cut as the bill, amounting to Rs55,000, had remained unpaid for years. The commissioner has instructed us to apply the law to all. When Antulay approached us for getting the connection restored, the commissioner asked him to pay the bill. Only after all the dues were cleared, the connection was restored,” said an official of the water department narrating the incident which has served as an example to all departments.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}