Revenue minister promisesto fix BBMP retro tax mess

R Ashoka tells Metrolife he will speak to the municipal authorities and arrive at a citizen-friendly resolution

Between May and July, the BBMP served notices to about 78,000 citizens across Bengaluru, demanding arrears since 2015-16. The notices were served on prompt taxpayers, and wrongly alleged they had entered the wrong zone when they paid their property taxes.

R Ashoka, revenue minister, has promised to resolve the problem triggered by the BBMP serving ‘tax due’ notices to prompt taxpayers.

Between May and July, the municipal authorities served notices to about 78,000 citizens, demanding arrears since 2015-16. The notices alleged the citizens had not entered the correct zone when they paid the annual property tax.

Citizen groups and trade bodies, such as the Bengaluru Hoteliers Association, are protesting against the notices, which they say are unfair, and a result of BBMP bungling.

Ashoka was away at Hubballi when Metrolife asked whether he was aware of the problem, already persisting for months and causing citizen angst.

“This issue has come to my notice and I will discuss it with the BBMP commissioner to see how we can resolve it,” he told Metrolife.

He said he would arrive at a solution that would not adversely affect citizens.

When Metrolife told him the citizens had paid taxes as indicated by the BBMP software, he said, “I will look into it.”

Protests brewing

Elsewhere, protests are gathering momentum. The Bengaluru NavaNirmana Party (BNP) will hold a virtual demonstration on Zoom at 11 am on September 4.

About 5,000 citizens have signed a petition against the notices, and several signatories are participating in the protest.

The sternly-worded BBMP notices allege the recipients have partly defaulted on their property tax payments since 2016-17. Tax zones were redrawn in 2016-17, but the BBMP says many property owners continued to assess their taxes based on older zones.

This is misleading, as citizens have paid their dues as indicated by the BBMP website.

Many resident welfare associations and owners of commercial establishments have written to the BBMP, but it has been unresponsive till date.

Srikanth Narasimhan, general secretary of the Bengaluru NavaNirmana Party, says, “We want to draw the government’s attention to this as it impacts thousands of people. Many citizens were forced to pay after waiting for three or four months for the problem to be resolved,” he told Metrolife.

The BBMP is taking too much time and causing anxiety among citizens as the interest and penalty keeps piling up, he says.

GOVT TAKING TOO LONG TO ACT, SAYS ADVOCATE

S Dinesh, advocate and consultant with Intelectia, working with many groups protesting against the BBMP notices, says the government can cite the Karnataka Municipal Council Act and stop the levy of objectionable taxes. “The government can intervene and provide remedies to the citizens. Why should there be any delay?” he says. He wonders why the BBMP has not responded to citizens’ concerns yet. “Does it mean the civic authority is above the law?” he says. The BBMP has issued notices to those who have promptly paid their taxes. “They are not tax evaders or wilful defaulters,” he says.

What BBMP is mulling

A senior officer with the revenue wing of the BBMP says the penalty is likely to be waived. “Among notices issued to 78,000 people, almost 10,000 people have paid and we have managed to collect Rs 17 crore,” he says. Another senior official concedes the BBMP should make amends and relieve citizens of the undue hardship. He said he had suggested that both the penalty and interest be waived.

Taxpayers’ woes

Senior citizen Rahul Tandon owns two apartments in Shanthinagar. “I received the notices on March 26 or 27, but they were dated at the end of February. They said I had to pay a 200% penalty and 2% monthly interest. This came as a shock,” he says. His property had moved from zone E to C, and the BBMP website made no mention of it. “We continued to pay whatever amount popped up on the website,” he says.

Many citizens in his area have received such notices. “I waited till June, hoping the government would do something, but the interest kept mounting, so I finally paid Rs 75,000,” he says. The receipt says the amount is not refundable. If the penalty is waived, a provision must be made for payments to be adjusted against future dues, he urges.