Chandigarh MC serves notices on property tax defaulters

The cash-strapped Municipal Corporation (MC) has started issuing notices to the property tax defaulters. The outstanding amount on account of property tax has crossed Rs 200 crore.

Sources in the MC said notices had been issued to more than 40 defaulters with the total outstanding amount of over Rs 5 crore. The tax wing of the civic body has prepared a fresh list of defaulters after calculating the tax on the basis of the revised rates.

An MC official said the defaulters were given one month’s time for paying the dues. In case the dues are not paid within the stipulated time, then the MC will attach the property. The notices have been served on the owners of both commercial and residential properties. Similar notices will be issued to government departments for the non-payment of tax dues in the next phase, which will start soon.

The outstanding tax amount has risen to Rs 200 crore since the levy was introduced in Chandigarh in 2004. As per Section 138 of the Municipal Act, the Commissioner is authorised to attach, sale or seal the property of defaulters.

Recently, the Comptroller and Accountant General (CAG) had rapped the corporation for failing to recover the property tax dues from the defaulters. In its latest observation, CAG had stated that the MC lacked an effective monitoring system for the tax recovery.

Panjab University, the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGI), Punjab Engineering College (deemed to be university) and several government departments have property tax dues running into crores. These departments of Punjab, Haryana and UT are delaying the tax payment for various reasons. Sources said outstanding tax matters with amount totalling Rs 100 crore are under litigation or some dispute.

Meanwhile, for the first time, the MC has received over Rs 62 crore in property tax in the past two months when the rebate was offered. It was almost double the amount the civic body received during the corresponding period last financial year. The property tax is the biggest source of regular income for the MC.

Chandigarh