BBMP to take actions against property tax defaulters

Red alert for defaulters on property tax in Bangalore, as the BBMP (Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike) is all geared up to collect arrears from people. Failure to pay the dues, will leave the BBMP with no other option other than barging into individual property, confiscating the variables and selling it to recoup the dues, according to new laws.

The defaulters have been categorized into six levels by the BBMP, depending on the amount to be paid. Nearly 12104 property owners have been identified as ‘defaulters’ by the BBMP who have failed to pay Rs 595.63 crore tax. Furthermore, BBMP officials have warned to slap ‘distress warrants’ on the defaulters as per Section 147 of the Karnataka Municipal Council Act.

Distress Warrants-Explanation

According to BBMP officials, Distress Warrants empower the authority to get their hands on movable assets of tax defaulters, under Section 147 of the KMC Act. Such a warrant is issued only when a defaulter pays no heed to court notices.

The warrant endows the BBMP with the right to sell the confiscated property against the dues. Such warrants hold special relevance to properties where tax inspectors and revenue collectors are not allowed to enter the premises, on the pretext of security reasons.

Unpaid dues

Confirming the rigid move of the civic body, the BBMP officials stated that in the last year dues were not effectively collected from the defaulters by issuing notices. Hence, the civic body felt the need for such a rigid move. With the help of ‘distress warrants’ BBMP intends to mop up a revenue of Rs 800 crore from the defaulters that has been pending since 2008-09.

According to market survey reports, the east zone of BBMP is brimming with maximum defaulters. Out of 7601 defaulters, 2180 hail from the east zone. The BBMP has set a target of Rs 1800 crore via tax collection during the financial year 2013-14, out of which only Rs 700 crore have been accumulated.