Corpn. Commissioner withdraws letter written to Tangedco

Coimbatore Corporation Commissioner Sravan Kumar Jatavath has ‘withdrawn’ the letter he wrote to the Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Limited (Tangedco) Chief Engineer for Coimbatore Region asking the power utility to treat its property tax assessment of buildings as building completion certificate.

The Corporation Commissioner sent the letter on July 9 after the Commissioner of Municipal Administration wrote to all the municipal and corporation commissioners on July 7 reminding them that the Tamil Nadu Combined Development and Buildings Rules, 2019 were in force from April 2, 2019 and that as per the Rules, that Tangedco insisted on building completion certificates to grant power connection as per the Rules and the commissioners would do well to do what was necessary.

The Commissioner wrote the letter to his subordinate officers and the Corporation Commissioner wrote to the Tangedco Chief Engineer after activists questioned the letter. The activists had said the Corporation’s move would open the floodgates for unauthorised buildings in the city as the two were different. They had pointed out that while the civic body could assess all buildings for tax, irrespective of whether they were built as per plan or otherwise, the building completion certificate could be issued only for those buildings that were constructed as per approved plan and that too by the competent authority – the government agency that approved of the building plan.

Consumer activist K. Kathirmathiyon had also written to the Municipal Administration and Water Supply Department secretary in this regard.

He said had the Corporation Commissioner understood the context in which the government had framed the Rules, he would not have written the first letter to the Tangedco.

The Government had framed the Rules placing insistence on building completion certificate even as local bodies assessed buildings for property tax.

He also went on to add that if the Tangedco had issued power connection without building completion certificate but with tax assessment the officers concerned had violated the Rules and were liable for action.