BBMP seals 500-600 commercial properties

Bengaluru: Implementing the action proposed in early November, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has started sealing properties of defaulters on property tax in eight of its sectors – which till now are only commercial – from December 12. . ,
BBMP special commissioner Munish Moudgil said 500-600 commercial properties have been sealed till Saturday. These are defaulters who have not paid or underpaid taxes for years. So far, we have served notices to 8,000-10,000 defaulters who owe BBMP around Rs 300 crore. The sealed properties belong to those who have received notices and have not yet made the payment.”
TOI had first reported in its November 6 edition that the civic body was on strict measures to recover pending taxes after Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar and BBMP Chief Commissioner Tushar Giri Nath had asked officials to take strict action. Was thinking.
While the civic body has started sealing commercial properties, Moudgil said, “Action will also be taken against residential units. We will have to decide what kind of action should be initiated against them.”
He said that the total number of defaulters in the city is estimated to be 6 lakh. “Many of these defaulters will have small amounts, but there are also many big defaulters,” he said.
In various areas, some property owners are paying less tax by giving false information that their properties fall in the residential category even though they are being used for commercial purposes, while some others have simply defaulted. All of them are liable for action under the BBMP Act, 2020.
Apart from freezing properties, Moudgil had earlier said that the BBMP would consider seizing cars or freezing bank accounts. “Seizure of assets and auction of assets has not been initiated yet,” he said on Saturday.
Stressful for officers?
On Saturday, several BBMP officials indicated through various mediums that they felt overworked and stressed. Two revenue officials in the Yelahanka area had suffered heart attacks, while at least one other was in hospital due to stress, a representative of the staff said.
StoI has at least three letters from officials which have been accepted by the BBMP Chief Commissioner’s office. The officers have expressed their inability to deal with the stress and have demanded transfer or voluntary retirement. Two letters were written on December 15, while one was sent on December 14.
“I have not seen anyone having a heart attack. People are linking unrelated issues. Each ward has a team of 4-5 members and each team is required to seal only three properties in a day Which shouldn’t be too much work.” ” Moudgil said.
However, the officials who complained said that the tension was due to the continuous work being done since the announcement of the elections. “The work has never stopped. After the elections, we have to implement various government schemes, verify properties, do tax-related and other work. While we have to seal only three properties, many of them have There are many offices. The owners are not on site and we have to stop tenants complaining. It is becoming very stressful,” said one of them.