The Hindu 17.01.2013
3 lakh property tax defaulters
List includes three relatives of a prominent politician and a sitting MLA
A senior revenue official stated that there are a total of three lakh property tax defaulters in the city.
Of these, around 30 citizens owe up to Rs. 1 crore and above. Over 600 owe Rs. 1 lakh and above. The Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has compiled a list of those who owe more than Rs. 5 lakh in tax dues. Commissioner M. Lakshminarayan said that the civic body is trying to recover dues from all defaulters.
According to information made available by the civic body, the list of defaulters includes three relatives of a prominent politician of a major regional party and an MLA of the ruling party. The three relatives, including a former MLA, together owe the BBMP as much as Rs. 39.4 crore while the MLA owes Rs. 22.99 crore. Several notices have been issued to the defaulters, a BBMP official claimed. An official, on condition of anonymity, claimed that while two persons have not paid property tax for their commercial establishments for two years, the other two have defaulted for three years in the same category.
Chairperson of the Standing Committee for Taxation and Finance M.S. Shivaprasad told The Hindu that the list containing the names of these four defaulters was prepared over a month ago. “It is not clear at this moment if they have cleared all their dues,” he added.
