As of May 18, nearly 363,000 properties had tax arrears of Rs 7.111 billion. Bommanahalli, which has 57,043 properties and owes Rs 95 crore, tops the list, followed by Rajarajeshwari Nagar with 55,073 properties and owes Rs 54.31 crore. the difference.
“We are sending SMS and making calls through IVR every day to these defaulters and amending the cases. But they have not paid the tax arrears. We will soon launch a special enforcement operation for recovery as per the law,” BBMP Special Commissioner (Tax) Munish Munish Moudgil told the Times of India.
This is not the first time that the BBMP has made such a list public, but many of these defaulters continue to evade taxes. Property taxes are an important source of revenue for the BBMP and some properties have been tax delinquent for decades, posing an ongoing challenge to the tax department.
The BBMP relies heavily on property taxes to fund basic citizen services, infrastructure projects and urban development plans. However, the reluctance of high-profile defaulters to clear their arrears is undermining these efforts.
Many defaulters on the BBMP list have been ignoring multiple notices over the years. Despite efforts by BBMP officials to enforce compliance, including issuing notices, attaching properties, seizing estates and immovable properties, and even seizing bank accounts, many property owners remain indifferent to their tax obligations.
Regional details of property tax defaulters (Source: BBMP)
The bureaucratic procedures involved in these enforcement actions can be slow and cumbersome, further complicating the BBMP’s efforts to recover dues. “Whenever we serve notices to defaulters, they approach the courts to stay, forcing us to tie our hands. What’s the point of having a revenue unit that is not functioning optimally due to shutdown? So, we launched With OTS, a time settlement scheme, hopefully many people will be able to pay,” he added.
“The scheme offers a 5% discount on long-term payments. However, compliance remains disappointingly low and many owners are unwilling to pay their dues even with this incentive.
Multiple notices have been sent to property owners who are delinquent on their taxes. For those who continue to ignore these notices, we have issued Form 13 to initiate the process of recording BBMP claims in the records of the Deputy Registrar’s Office.
This legal step is designed to place a lien on a property, making it difficult for an owner to sell or transfer their property without clearing the unpaid taxes.
“We publicly released the list of the biggest defaulters to increase transparency and accountability. The BBMP hopes to name and shame defaulters to force them to pay their dues. However, this approach has had limited success in the past and it remains to be seen whether it will be more effective this time. to be observed.
