RAJKOT: Intensifying its property tax collection drive, Rajkot Municipal Corporation (RMC) has decided to auction 14 properties of defaulters.

RMC officials said, "The auction will be held between July 16 and July 21 and we will recover Rs 20.30 lakh from the proceeds."

The corporation has so far collected Rs 84.31 crore as property tax, which is Rs 28 crore more than what had been collected till now during the previous year.

With a view to encourage people to pay their taxes, RMC has decided to extend five per cent rebate scheme being offered till July 15. Officials said RMC has given Rs 5.5 crore as rebate to tax payers in the city so far.

The branches of RMC will remain open on Saturday and Sunday to facilitate tax collection. Officials have warned that after July 15, strict action will be initiated against 350 property tax defaulters. "These properties may be auctioned if they fail to pay up their taxes,'' an RMC official said.

RMC has set a target of Rs 150 crore to be realized from property tax collection this year.

Tax alerts for property tax collection

RMC has used SMS alerts to remind property owners about their pending tax dues and it has received good response. RMC officials said there are a total of 33.32 lakh properties in city out of which 1.5 lakh are registered online. RMC has sent SMS messages to 97,169 property owners. "We have observed that whenever we have sent SMS alerts, the tax collection has increased. Our estimates suggest that Rs 53 crore was collected after property tax alerts were sent,'' a senior RMC official said.