The Hindu 06.05.2013
Unauthorised buildings: consumer body seeks coloured property tax books
Coimbatore Consumer Cause has urged the Coimbatore Corporation to go in for coloured property tax assessment books to identify buildings that were unauthorised.
In a letter to Commissioner G. Latha, the organisation’s Secretary, K. Kathirmathiyon, has said that most people were unaware that the Corporation collected tax and provided water to the residents of those buildings that were constructed without approval. Even if the buildings were to be in complete violation of the rules, the Corporation would treat it as buildings that were 100 per cent deviant, levy a meagre penalty, assess the building and thereafter collect property tax.
After the levy of property tax, most residents tend to believe that the buildings were approved and inferred that the grant of water connection had granted the “approved” status.
There was no easy way to ascertain if the buildings were approved or not because there would be no mention in the property tax assessment books. Even those with a fair idea of the workings of the Corporation and the rules on building plan approval found it difficult to fathom the actual status of the buildings.
The problem arose during second sales. In the absence of clear mention in the property tax assessment books, banks were also financing the buyers of such buildings based on the registered documents and property tax assessment books.
To overcome the problem, Mr. Kathirmathiyon suggests that the Corporation could go in for coloured books to differentiate the approved buildings from the unauthorised ones. It could issue white books for buildings that were cent per cent in conformity with the rules, yellow books for buildings with minor deviations and red books for buildings that were constructed without approval or had major deviations.
By doing so, the Corporation would help people identify unauthorised buildings and prevent their buying or transacting such property.
