CHANDIGARH: With around 1,000 commercial properties and Rs 107 crore property tax pending, Chandigarh municipal corporation has identified and sent attachment-cum-sealing notices to 100 such defaulter commercial properties across the city.
Now, all such defaulters have fifteen days to pay their dues, failing which they will not be given any notices or information and their properties will be sealed.
Sources in the civic body authority revealed that since this is the first big lot of sealing notices to the commercial properties of the current financial year, other properties are also in the line and after fulfilling the formalities, sealing notices will be sent to them also.
“The property tax branch of the civic body authority had sent multiple recovery notices to these said 100 commercial properties to pay the tax and even reminders were also given, but they remained reluctant to pay their tax dues, following which the civic body authority was left with no option, but to send the sealing notices to all such defaulters as per the laid down terms and conditions. These properties include the showrooms, industrial properties, booths, commercial complexes, etc,” sources revealed.
Besides the commercial properties, large number of the residential and government properties are also included in the list of the defaulters. “Currently, there are around 1,000 defaulter residential properties, owning around Rs 8 crore and 1,661 government properties owing around Rs 28.80 crore. Since the residential properties cannot be sealed, options are being studied in this regard, while communication is being going on with the government defaulter properties,” sources said.
Since the property tax from the commercial properties is carrying the optimum amount of tax, the authority has been giving maximum focus of these segment of the properties. The MC had given two months’ rebate period – April and May – to the taxpayers to avail the rebate facility. The authority had given 20% rebate on the residential properties, while 10% rebate was announced on commercial properties. After the rebate period, property tax defaulters have to pay the 25% penalty charges over the entire amount and subsequently they will have to pay 12% interest on the same.
