The cash-strapped BBMP is all set to collect service charge from government buildings. But, there is a hitch. The civic body does not know how many such buildings – those belonging to the Centre, State government and defence establishments – are there in Bengaluru.
As per the Karnataka Municipal Corporations Act, 1976, the civic body can collect service charge of 25 per cent from government buildings. BBMP Commissioner M. Lakshminarayan has directed the zonal commissioners to prepare a list of government buildings in their respective zones.
Mr. Lakshminarayan said, “Once the buildings are listed, we will raise a demand and try to collect the service charge from this fiscal itself.”
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According to a senior BBMP official, government buildings that are being used for commercial purposes will have to pay the service charge to the civic body. Buildings that are being used solely for public purposes are exempt. He added that there was a need to come up with a system to collect the service charge.
Kacharakanahalli councillor Padmanabha Reddy claimed that at least 15 per cent of the total buildings in the city are owned by either the State government or the Centre. “According to a government order issued by the Ministry of Urban Development in December 2009, local bodies can collect a maximum of 75 per cent and minimum of 33 per cent depending on the utilisation of services and facilities provided.” Incidentally, he had raised the issue in the BBMP council around two months ago. The council had passed a resolution in favour of the BBMP collecting service charge from government buildings.