Can the annual budget of the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) be recovered only through a crackdown on illegal advertising?
Though the report on the advertisement tax losses by K. Mathai, Assistant Commissioner (Advertisement), suggests though, the assumptions and methodology has set off eyebrows and sighs of incredulity among those in the administration.
The report, which was submitted in the past week extrapolates data from the survey conducted in Shantinagar ward over the past month to claim that the city has lost Rs. 6,282 crore since the adoption of the Advertisement Byelaws, 2006.
Incidentally, the report was commissioned after the previous report, submitted on July 10, pegged the loss at Rs. 2,000 crore, a figure many cast doubts on.
A team of four BBMP inspectors visited Shantinagar ward to analyse the pervasion of ads. Eventually, those who had put up 2,911 ads were found not to have paid tax, and the loss was calculated at Rs. 3.7 crore. The report notes that this is far above the annual realisation of just Rs. 15 lakh collected from the ward by tax officials.
The figure was then extrapolated for all 198 wards to arrive at a loss of Rs. 785 crore annually. Justifying the extrapolation, the report says that Shantinagar is the “average ward”, with some wards having more ads and some having fewer ads.
Having accepted the report, BBMP Administrator T.M. Vijaybhaskar said the power for collection of tax had been transferred from zonal commissioners to Mr. Mathai. “We have given two months’ time to collect Rs. 4 crore from Shantinagar ward,” he said.
Raising doubts over the methodology of the report, he said, “Shantinagar is a high-revenue ward. We cannot assume all wards are the same. For instance, one ward gives Rs. 150 crore as property tax. Extrapolation would give Bengaluru potential of nearly Rs. 30,000 crore. Similarly, there are wards that give Rs. 5 crore, meaning property tax for the city is just Rs. 1,000 crore.”
With Mumbai itself collecting Rs. 105 crore as advertisement tax, he believed Bengaluru’s potential could not be beyond that. “We are aiming for Rs. 50 crore this year,” said Mr. Vijaybhaskar.
