The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Vijayawada News : BPS: State urged to bring down penal charges

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Sunday, Jul 05, 2009
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Vijayawada

BPS: State urged to bring down penal charges

Staff Reporter

Tax Payers’ Association wants payment in instalments

Tax Payers’ Association holds a round table on the issue
Speakers suggest campaign to educate buyers

VIJAYAWADA: In the wake of the High Court judgment approving the Building Penalisation Scheme (BPS) with some riders, a meeting organised on Saturday by the Tax Payers’ Association (TPA) resolved to urge the State government to bring down the penal charges to the lowest possible rate. The meeting also wanted the Government to allow the people to pay the penal charges in instalments.

The speakers at the round table expressed the view that the court’s judgment was ‘not in favour of common man’. But as every citizen should abide by the law, the penal charges should be paid; hence, it was necessary to demand the Government to bring down the penal charges to the lowest possible extent, they said. Expressing the view that the officials connived with the builders and deliberately allowed deviations, the speakers mooted a proposal to take up a campaign or movement to educate the buyers and save them from being tricked.

“In the wake of the court judgment, we need to pay the penal charges anyway. So, now we have to ensure that it is nominal and can be paid in easy instalments as we all purchased the flats or houses on bank loans,” said T. Hari Prasad, a resident of Ayodhya Nagar.

M.V. Nageswara Rao, another property owner, said the Right To Information Act could be effectively used to make the officials accountable.

For instance, builders would have to pay a cess of one per cent of the property value if the building cost exceeds Rs.10 lakh. Finding out details of the building cess collected and number of structures that have come up in the city would alert the official and builder as well, and deviations would also come down drastically, he said.

‘Deviations continuing’

Sainath of Satya Residency in Ajit Singh Nagar said that the deviations were continuing unabated.

“The builder of our apartment is constructing a pent house without proper permission. But, the officials have turned blind eye to it,” he said.

TPA President V. Sambi Reddy and Secretary M. V. Anjaneyulu said the BPS was formulated duly following procedures and rules. “But by moving a court of law, we lost the opportunity to pressurise the government.

Now, we have to request the Government to collect minimum penal charges in instalments,” they suggested.

901 and 902 GOs Vyatireka Porata Committee convener J.V.L.N. Murthy, HB Colony Welfare Association president K. Gopal Rao and others spoke.

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