While the civic body in Bengaluru is determined to meet its target of collecting Rs 3,100 crore of property tax in the current financial year, big establishments are proving to be a major hindrance. According to BBMP officials, a total of Rs 1,100 crore including arrears of the targeted Rs 3,100 crore are yet to be collected.
Mahadevpura which houses the city's major IT parks and is the largest among the eight zones within BBMP limits, alone currently has roughly Rs 409 crore of uncollected taxes with just two months left for the financial year to end.
The top three defaulters in Mahadevpura are city-based real estate company Chaitanya Properties, Govt. of India run-Food Corporation of India (FCI) and the state-run Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation. The fourth top defaulter in the city is the government-owned telecommunications company BSNL.
Chaitanya Properties owes BBMP a total of Rs 66,28,446 in property tax for the last two years. FCI and the BMTC owe Rs 51,21,235 and Rs 49,14,112 respectively. Meanwhile, BSNL owes Rs 45,97,237.
Apart from this, Rs 120.29 crore of the deficit amount is being disputed and challenged in courts. The companies that have gone to court include defence manufacturing unit HAL and multinational IT majors like Wipro, Intel.
The highest amount of disputed property tax is Rs 40.16 crore, which has been challenged by HAL at the city civil court and hearing for the case is going on. Similarly, chip-making giant Intel has also approached court over Rs 25.16 crore that it owes in property taxes.
Another Rs 18.10 crore owed by Indian Telecom Industry, another central government-run company, is being contested at the Karnataka High Court.
The Mahadevpura Zonal Commissioner Shive Gowda K has prepared a list of top 100 defaulters and is issuing show-cause notices prioritising on big defaulters. The top 100 defaulters have been issued notices urging them to clear their dues at the earliest.
Speaking to TNM, Shive Gowda K said, “Already, we have issued show-cause notices to 16,000 defaulters and in the last two months, we have collected Rs 150 crore including arrears. Next, we have to issue distress orders and make sure they pay property tax or else carry out seizures.”