As part of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s (BMC) drive to recover pending property tax from defaulters ahead of March 31, the corporation has attached several establishments across the city.
Prominent among these are several properties owned by HDIL, one by Wadhwa builders, and many co-operative housing societies. The action has resulted in the BMC collecting ₹100 crore more property tax as on March 5.
With octroi gone, the corporation is banking on development charges from real estate and property tax as its largest sources of revenue. It had set a target of collecting ₹5,400 crore by the end of this fiscal, but as on March 5, has only collected ₹3,880 crore. The figure stood at ₹3,771 crore on this day last year.
While officers maintain that maximum recovery happens in the last month (March), they do not want to take chances. With only three weeks left for the month to end, the BMC has disconnected water supply to several properties and has attached many of them across the city. If owners do not pay even after their properties are attached, the BMC can initiate auction of the property within 21 days.
“Our objective is not to auction property, but if defaulters do not pay our dues, we will be forced to do that. Once the auction process is started, it cannot be halted until the auction is complete or dues are paid,” said Devidas Kshirsagar, Assistant Municipal Commissioner (Assessment and Collection).
In Kurla and Sakinaka, the L-Ward office has disconnected water supply in six cases and attached 20 properties. Prominent among those are Kanakia’s Boomerang, and Aditya Textile Mills. It has proposed the attachment of 56 more properties.
In Andheri (East), a property belonging to Sunshine Builders and Developers has been attached for outstanding dues of ₹9.84 crore. Others include M/s The Industrial and Engineering apparatus (₹6.23 crore), and Tahira Industries (₹2 crore).
In Bandra (East), HDIL Ltd. had a property attached on February 11 for dues amounting to ₹12.5 crore. Other properties attached include two plots of land belonging to Siddharth Constructions, and some residential housing societies. A trade centre belonging to the Wadhwa Group in Bandra (East) has also been attached for dues worth ₹19.41 crore.
In S Ward, M/s Macnell and Barry Ltd. had three plots attached for pending property dues around ₹27 crore. Some of the other defaulters include National Sports Club of India, Amir Parks and Amusement Pvt. Ltd., Bombay Dyeing, Raghuleela Mega Mall, Elco Arcade Pvt. Ltd., and Royal Palms.
Property tax is charged on the basis of several factors including carpet area, location, nature and type of building, and occupancy type among other factors.
The undisputed pending property tax amount for BMC over the years is around ₹3,681 crore. There are thousands of crores in other dues that have been challenged in court.
