The Hindu 17.07.2013
BPS: violators need to cough up 25 p.c. more tax
Brace up! The Vijayawada Municipal Corporation is all set to collect an additional 25 per cent of the property tax from applicants who failed to regularise their buildings under the Building Penalisation Scheme (BPS).
The corporation is set to collect an additional 200 per cent of the property tax if the building has been constructed in deviation from the plan sanctioned and the owner had not applied for regulation under the scheme.
Nearly 3,000 applications submitted under the scheme were rejected for want of documents and plans, etc. Of this, 1,340 applicants have not paid total penalty amount, while 1,513 have not submitted the requisite documents.
About 94 applicants have no fire equipment, and 52 do not have layout regulation. The town planning has already sent data of 500 applications to the revenue wing for levying additional 25 per cent.
The rejection of 3,000 applications will take the total to 3,500. The VMC is likely to receive Rs. 15 crore per annum through additional tax, according to City Planner Chakrapani.
The government had, earlier, issued orders directing local bodies to either collect 25 per cent of tax additionally or demolish the buildings where deviations and violations were noticed.
The VMC officials, apprehensive that demolition would invite uproar and unrest from the public, confined themselves to levying the penalty.
Falls short of estimates
The corporation sold nearly 18,400 applications, while it printed 19,000. The VMC could dispose of only 65 per cent of the applications received under the scheme.
