The Times of India                     27.02.2013

Government offices evading property tax for years

MUMBAI: The BMC wants citizens to pay property tax by March 31, but it has not been able to collect the pending amount from central and state government agencies for the past several years.

According to the data compiled by BMC, property tax worth Rs 155 crore on central and state government offices in the city is yet to be paid. Of the Rs 155 crore, central government agencies owe nearly Rs 147 crore, including Rs 5.23 crore, Rs 4.42 crore and Rs 31.43 crore of CR, WR and Mumbai Port Trust (MbPT) respectively. Offices of the state government owe the BMC much lesser— 8.24 crore.

Civic officials said the BMC is pursuing the issue with senior officials from these departments and are hopeful that the money will be paid soon.

A civic official, requesting anonymity, said, "Some bills have not been paid for over 15 years. Even water bills are pending for several years together. We have sent several reminders, but they haven't bothered to revert."

The BMC has decided to charge citizens property tax rates on the basis of capital value. The rates will be applicable with retrospective effect from April 1, 2010. The property tax bills and special notices have been sent to the citizens, asking them to pay up before March 31. Despite several petitions from corporators and citizens, the BMC has refused to extend the deadline for payment.