The Hindu 26.11.2009
JNNURM: tax on unoccupied houses
G.V.R. Subba Rao
Town planning wing busy completing documentation
Tax levied by VMC ranges from Rs. 70 to Rs. 90 per half year
VIJAYAWADA: The Vijayawada Municipal Corporation (VMC) has prepared property tax assessments for about 1,100 houses constructed under Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM). What is interesting is that none of these houses have either been handed over to the beneficiaries or occupied by them.
The town planning wing of the corporation is still in the process of completing the documentation for the houses for the identified beneficiaries. The houses have not been handed over to them for various reasons, including non-payment of the beneficiary’s contribution and not signing the bank loan agreement. The beneficiaries have to pay Rs. 10,000 as their contribution for allotment of a dwelling unit, and also agree to repay a bank loan of Rs. 30,000. The tax “levied” by the VMC ranges from Rs. 70 to Rs. 90 per half year, depending upon the type of house “allotted” to the beneficiaries. The amounts are clearly against the laid down rules and procedures. The Corporation can collect just Rs.2 per half year from JNNURM housing beneficiaries as the houses constructed are meant for urban poor. Section 202 A of the Hyderabad Municipal Corporation Act, which applies to the VMC, stipulates that only a tax of Rs.2 should be levied on the houses constructed for urban poor. The Corporation officials argue that the property tax assessments have been prepared with a view to providing water and electricity connections.
Adding to burden
The argument goes against the earlier plan to form associations of JNNURM house owners and provide water facility through group connections. Water supply to these houses will have to be ensured by the Corporation as it is government housing not individual constructions, says Ch. Babu Rao, CPI (M) floor leader in the VMC general body. The amount of property tax levied may appear insignificant, but is likely to add up to a total burden of Rs. 35 lakh to Rs. 40 lakh per annum on the 21,000 families that will take over these houses. The Centre sanctioned a total of 21,752 houses for Vijayawada under Basic Services for Urban Poor (BSUP), a sub-mission of JNNURM. Of these, 14,968 houses are proposed to be taken up under phase-I and 6,784 under phase-II. The VMC has so far allotted more than 3,000 houses to the people evicted from places like Padmavathi ghat and a few other places. However, documentation could be completed only in the case of about 2,000 beneficiaries, and the same in the case of the remaining beneficiaries would be completed in the next couple of weeks, officials say.
