The Hindu : BMP fails to keep promise on tax rebate

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Aug 02, 2002

Southern States

Southern States - Karnataka-Bangalore

BMP fails to keep promise on tax rebate

By B.S.Ramesh

BANGALORE AUG. 1. Facts, sometimes, are stranger than fiction. A case in point is that of a civic agency conveniently forgetting its own promise to the people to provide rebates in property tax.

Surprisingly, neither the corporators of the Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BMP) nor the officials are aware of the rebate, which the BMP itself had extended to the property owners through a resolution a few years ago. With a majority of the property tax payers being "ignorant'' of the rebate, the BMP has been conveniently pocketing crores of rupees.

According to the BMP, there are 2.5 lakh properties in the City and with the rebate originally pegged at Rs. 140 a household or property, the amount "pocketed" by the BMP works out to over Rs. three crore a year. The saga of the rebate goes back to the early 1990s when the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) decided to do away with the benefit of 25,000 litres of free allowance of water for each domestic connection. To make up for this loss, the BMP decided to pass on the benefit by setting off Rs. 140 in the annual property tax in lieu of the free allowance abolished by the BWSSB.

A resolution to this effect was passed in the BMP Council. However, neither the lower-rung officers of the BMP nor the revenue officers were aware of the rebate. When property owners approached the revenue offices with newspaper clippings, they were turned away and some were told that there was no such resolution. Others were asked to pay the tax without rebate as no official communication had been received.

Interestingly, when the Self-Assessment Scheme of property tax was introduced three years ago, there was no column to claim the rebate while under the earlier collection, there was a column for claiming rebate. With neither the BMP nor the property owners bothered about it, the question of rebate was relegated to the background.

Many old-timers and civic experts recall that the 25,000 litre free allowance was the result of a sustained campaign by leaders of all parties and public figures under the auspices of the Poura Samiti. The BWSSB was to be paid Rs. 140 by the BMP on behalf of each domestic connection towards the 25,000 litres of free water allowance.

In 1991, the BWSSB unilaterally reduced free allowance from 25,000 litres to 16,500 litres. Four years later, the free allowance was dispensed with and the BMP decided, through a resolution in December 1994, not to make the payment of R. 140 per domestic connection to the BWSSB and instead pass on the benefit by way of rebate to each household with domestic connection with effect from October 1, 1995.

Even seven years after the resolution has been passed, the BMP has been sitting pretty as the property owners have not come forward in substantial numbers to claim the rebate.

While the BWSSB has been justifying doing away with the free allowance on the grounds that the cost of supplying water was high when compared with the rates at which consumers were charged, some of the BMP officials, corporators, and even members of the standing committees expressed ignorance about the rebate. All that they were prepared to say was that they would look into the issue if a copy of the resolution was given to them.

It remains to be seen whether the BMP, which has taken several unilateral schemes, would take one such to pass on the benefit to property owners.

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