Nearly 3.25 lakh property tax defaulters in the city owe
the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) more than Rs. 786 crore.
This will touch a whopping Rs. 1,000 crore if the BBMP levies a 2 per
cent penalty per month.

“On an average, Rs. 5 crore
is pending from each ward. Unfortunately, verification of properties —
had not been taken up for several years — has shown up huge differences
as the property owners have suppressed [facts about] built-up area,”
Commissioner Siddaiah told BBMP council on Wednesday.

Officials
have been directed to collect this amount by the end of March. When
they verified 6,370 such properties with a built-up area of more than
10,000 sq ft, they found a discrepancy of nearly Rs.200 crore.

Drumbeating ploy

In
such a scenario, the BBMP was thinking of seizing the movable
properties of tax defaulters. The drumbeating programme to shame
defaulters has worked as they had coughed up at least part of the dues.
“That apart, the officials have already prepared a list of defaulters
which will be shared with the councillors. We will display these lists
in the ward offices, parks, prominent public places, clubs, etc.,” Mr.
Siddaiah said.

Citing an example, he said a tech park
had not correctly declared its built-up area and owed BBMP Rs. 60 crore
in taxes, including penalty. After a spot of drumbeating, it forked out
Rs. 6 crore. Similarly, a five-star hotel in had declared only Rs. 26
lakh in taxes. But after verification, the dues were calculated at Rs.
87 lakh.

The BBMP owed Rs.1,200 crore in pending
bills and civil, garbage, horticulture and electrical contractors had
not been paid for nearly four months.

Advertisement tax

Though
it was hopeful of garnering at least Rs. 200 crore through
advertisement taxes, the collection so far has only been Rs. 46 crore. A
cell has been constituted to monitor the illegal hoardings in the city.