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NDMC to e-auction Taj Mansingh hotel

Friday, 03 March 2017 11:00 administrator
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The Times of India       03.03.2017 

NDMC to e-auction Taj Mansingh hotel

Highlights

  • NDMC will e-auction Taj Mansingh hotel at market rental value
  • The property was given to Tata Group’s Indian Hotels Company Ltd on a lease for 33 years
  • IHCL had moved SC saying there was no need to auction the hotel as it was generating good revenue

Taj Mansingh hotel.

Taj Mansingh hotel.

NEW DELHI: After a legal battle lasting over six years, New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) has decided to auction Taj Mansingh hotel. The decision was taken on Thursday in a meeting chaired by chief minister Arvind Kejriwal. NDMC, which owns the public property, will e-auction the hotel at market rental value.

The property was given to Tata Group's Indian Hotels Company Ltd (IHCL) on a lease for 33 years, which ended in 2011. The company was since given nine temporary extensions. After NDMC decided to auction the property, IHCL approached Delhi high court. The company's plea was dismissed in October 2016 with the court allowing the civic body to auction the property.

In November 2016, IHCL moved Supreme Court saying there was no need to auction the hotel as it was generating good revenue for the civic body.

In January this year, SC directed NDMC to review its decision of auctioning the hotel as the opinions of the top two legal officers of the country — Attorney General and Solicitor General — were not considered by the council while taking a decision to auction the property. NDMC was given six weeks' time to review its decision.

 "We prepared the proposal after consulting the council members and law officers. The same will be put up in SC. The final decision lies with SC, but we are certain that the decision will be in NDMC's favour," said a senior official.

Latest Comment

Since Taj Mansingh was generating regular revenue for NDMC, the existing arrangement was unacceptable to Kejru. He wants to kill the golden egg layer hen and collect all the golden eggs in one go!Jagdish Madan

Meanwhile, NDMC will also be re-auctioning the Asian Hotel. The council had earlier put an end to legal tangles with the previous owner, who was evicted from the property on court orders. In January, the hotel was e-auctioned fetching Rs 45.5 lakh per month as licence fee, the highest ever for the agency. 

Last Updated on Friday, 03 March 2017 11:08
 

NDMC set to scrap licence of Le Meridien hotel

Friday, 03 March 2017 10:57 administrator
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The Times of India       03.03.2017 

NDMC set to scrap licence of Le Meridien hotel

NEW DELHI: The New Delhi Municipal Council has decided to terminate the licence of Le Meridien hotel, a landmark built during the 1982 Asiad, because of dues amounting to Rs 523 crore.

The decision was taken during a council meeting held on Thursday, which was chaired by CM Arvind Kejriwal. After the meeting, he tweeted, "Important decisions (at) today's NDMC meeting — cancel Le Meridien Hotel licence." Senior NDMC officials said the Le Meridien property had been termed unauthorised. "Under the Public Premises Eviction Act 1971, there is a provision that if the licensee fails to pay the licence fee then the licence can be terminated by the governing body. We will file a petition with the NDMC estate law officer to initiate action and will apprise to high court about it," the official said.

In 2015, a one-time fee of Rs 150 crore was paid by the hotel as "settlement" to NDMC to clear pending licence fee dues and the high court had ended the case.

It is alleged that the "settlement", which NDMC officials accepted, had resulted in a loss of Rs 400 crore to the exchequer.

In its plea in HC, the council had termed the settlement with Le Meridien as a "fraud", saying that as per the NDMC Act, the chairman was allowed to settle dues only up to Rs 1,000. The hotel had opposed the plea. The ministry of home affairs had also ordered an internal inquiry and passed on the case to CBI. However, in August 2016, the high court revived the suit and directed NDMC to raise a fresh demand of licence fee dues.

"As per the agreement, NDMC is supposed to get Rs 2.68 crore annually as licence fee and Rs 523 crore is due till date. In November last year, following the high court order to raise a fresh demand, NDMC in its letter directed the hotel to pay the outstanding arrears within 30 days and a notice was also issued," said the senior official.

"We have already raised the fresh demand as directed by the high court and due to non-payment of licence fee the council can revoke the licence. After we file a petition with the law estate officer, it will take three-four months for the eviction process to be initiated, if there is no interruption," the official said.

Le Meridien spokesperson, however, said the hotel had not received any official communication from the NDMC yet.

"The case is sub judice and all hotel operations continue uninterrupted," the spokesperson said.
 

SDMC mops up Rs 258 crore under amnesty scheme

Thursday, 02 March 2017 10:32 administrator
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The Times of India      02.03.2017   

SDMC mops up Rs 258 crore under amnesty scheme

 (Representative Image)

New Delhi: In three months, the South Delhi Municipal Corporation has collected Rs 258 crore as property tax under its amnesty scheme.

Launched in the last week of November, the scheme gave defaulters a chance to pay dues without penalty or interest. Around Rs 170 crore was collected from defaulters where as Rs 88 crore came in from other sources, such as BSES, AAI and the education department of Delhi government.

With the upcoming polls in mind, the corporation has extended the scheme till March 31. The first deadline expired on February 28.

"Over 42,000 taxpayers cleared their arrears in the last three months. During 2015-16, only 16,485 taxpayers had taken advantage of the amnesty scheme, with the total mop-up at just Rs 56 crore. This year, the collection has gone up three times," said an official.
 
During FY17, SDMC issued 1,53,341 advisories, 2,10,585 notices, 520 notices for prosecution and attachment of 623 properties and 374 bank accounts against defaulters.

"Many government departments have also availed of benefits of the scheme and cleared outstanding dues by paying only the principal amount. The education department of Delhi government, for example, deposited Rs 47 crore," the official added.
 
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