MUMBAI: To recover property tax dues amounting to around Rs 14 crore, BMC has auctioned three cars, including a Honda Accord and a Toyota Camry, belonging to realtor Samir Bhojwani.
Following the e-auction, BMC received around Rs 10 lakh for the three cars of which about Rs 1.5 lakh was adjusted to the auction charges, while the remaining sum was adjusted to the pending dues of the developer.
Meanwhile, till May 25, BMC has collected a total Rs 4,856 crore as property tax for 2023-24, while the revised target was Rs 4,500 crore.
“Bhojwani’s property tax dues of around Rs 14 crore were pending since 2013 concerning two wings of a residential project undertaken in Vile Parle West in BMC’s K-West ward. As per our information, about 16 floors of the two wings were complete. We arrived at the pending amount after taking into account court orders regarding property tax charged by the civic body,” said a BMC official.
The official further said: “In 2020, BMC attached Bhojwani’s three vehicles — a Honda Accord, a Toyota Camry, and a Hyundai Creta. These were subsequently seized in 2021. Final notices were issued, and even a notice regarding the auction of the cars was issued to the developer in May this year. As we did not receive any response regarding payment of dues, we went ahead with the auction.”
However, a spokesperson for Bhojwani claimed that the BMC action was erroneous and illegal. There was an award dated Oct 15, 2020, between Bhojwani and Zodiac Developers under which the Zodiac was liable to bear and pay the LUC taxes, the spokesperson said. Bhojwani is taking appropriate action in this regard.
Civic officials said that they carry out auctions of movable and immovable properties of defaulters to recover property tax dues. The civic body has in the past even attached a helicopter to recover dues.
“Prior to auctioning the property, we had to identify and establish the ownership of the property. In this case, if the developer had an issue, he should have contested the action earlier. Normally, defaulters do not wait till the end and pay up,” said a civic official, on condition of anonymity.
