Business Line        30.11.2013

Property tax dues: Wipro may face legal action from Bangalore local body

Despite repeated tax notices, Wipro did not pay the tax
notices and hence the BBMP authorities decided to slap a case against
the company.

Rs 16.47-crore due

If Wipro does not pay up the dues, which as per BBMP
officials amount to Rs 16.47 crore in taxes and other dues, it faces
legal action, including seizure of movable property.

Wipro vehemently denied this. In a statement, a Wipro
spokesperson in a statement said: “On November 27, officials and
corporators of BBMP arrived at our Sarjapur campus without prior notice
and resorted to high-handedness and arm twisting tactics for nearly
seven hours.”

It was an illegal attempt to collect money against a
notice for collection of property tax, which is not final and has been
responded to by pointing out errors in data points and assumptions, the
statement added.

This is the second time in the past 11 months that BBMP
has resorted to intimidatory tactics to collect money against
unsubstantiated notice of payment, Wipro officials said. These notices
have been superseded with multiple fresh notices by BBMP itself and the
latest one is yet to be adjudicated. Wipro is exploring all legal
options at its disposal to seek redressal, the statement said.

The dispute has to do with its corporate headquarters at
Doddakannelli village. According to the BBMP, Wipro owes these taxes
calculated at Rs 20 per sq ft which was due for 2008-2012.

Matters first came to light during the January this year
when Wipro was announcing its third quarter results. BBMP even hired
drum beaters who resort to these measures in a bid to embarrass tax
defaulters.