The Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) officials sealed one shop in the Kids Kemp complex on K.G. Road and issued a warning to 14 shopkeepers for not having paid property tax for five years.
The members of the Standing Committee for Taxation and Finance found that the shopkeepers in the complex had not paid property tax and they owed the BBMP the tax and penalty totalling Rs. 5 crore.
No result
Several notices issued to the defaulters over the past few years had yielded no result. When the officials asked the shopkeepers to pay property tax, the latter told the former that they had been paying the tax amount to the trust that manages the complex.
According to panel chairperson M.S. Shivaprasad, the shopkeepers owe the BBMP property tax totalling Rs. 2.47 crore. But including penalty they owe the BBMP Rs. 5 crore. “The shopkeepers would send away the BBMP officials who gave them notices. They tried to intimidate them today also. But we decided to act tough and seal the shops.”
Mr. Shivaprasad directed the zonal commissioner to ensure that the electricity and water supply be stopped till the shopkeepers in the complex clear all pending dues.
Mantri Square visit
Earlier, when the committee members visited Mantri Square on Sampige Road, they found that several shops had been set up in the open area in violation of the BBMP’s building bylaws. Besides that more than 30 per cent of the shops in the mall did not have trade licence. Officials were asked to issue show-cause notice to shopkeepers concerned for erecting structures in open spaces and review the tax paid by the mall. “Depending on the response of the shopkeepers to the show-cause notice, we will decide on the next course of action,” Mr. Shivaprasad said.
