GBA orders aggressive property tax recovery drive

Bengaluru: Maheshwar Rao, Chief Commissioner of the Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA), has directed officials of the five municipal corporations under its jurisdiction to prepare a list of major tax defaulters and initiate strict measures to recover pending property taxes.

Speaking at a virtual review meeting on property tax collection, e-khata updates and conversion of B-khata to A-khata accounts, Rao said officials must identify property owners with large arrears and ensure that pending dues are collected without delay.

He instructed commissioners of the municipal bodies to track those who have evaded the property tax system and bring them into the tax net.

“Priority must be given to intensifying property tax collection. Daily review meetings should be held with revenue officials, and necessary directions must be issued to improve collections,” Rao said.

Special Commissioner for Revenue, Munish Moudgil, informed the meeting that the five municipal corporations have been assigned a revenue target of Rs6,700 crore for the current financial year, of which Rs3,533 crore has been collected so far. He stressed the need to focus on pending revision cases and large defaulters to meet the revenue targets.

According to officials, there are over 24,000 pending property tax revision cases across the five municipal bodies, from which nearly Rs170 crore is due. Additionally, around 22,000 major property owners together owe Rs598 crore in arrears. Commissioners have been instructed to prioritize the recovery of these amounts.

Rao also directed that each municipal zone identify at least 100 major revision cases and 100 high-value defaulters, and assign recovery targets to revenue inspectors and collection officers. He instructed that commercial properties be sealed if required for recovery of dues.

Officials were further told to expedite issuance of new khata accounts to applicants to increase municipal revenue, and to ensure timely conversion of B-khata accounts to A-khata after verification of documentation.

The virtual meeting was attended by municipal commissioners Rajendra Cholann, Pommal Sunil Kumar, Ramesh D.S., Ramesh K.N., Dr. Rajendra K.V., senior officials from the Revenue Department, NIC technical directors and others.