BBMP: Distress warrants to be issued and seizing of properties for long-term tax defaulters

BENGALURU: On Tuesday, The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike joint commissioner (revenue) M Venkatachalapathy had asked the officials to issue distress warrants and seize properties of long-term defaulters.

He had asked them to act instantly on the process and submit an action-taken report. The agency is all set to target the property owners who have not paid their taxes even after being informed through show cause notices.

Venkatachalapathy had noted that the various owners who had been issued notices as many as three times but hadn’t responded. “Once the list is ready, fresh notices will be issued. The final step will be seizure of their properties,” he said.

The drive came into action due to the BBMP facing criticism for inefficient tax collection. Against the annual target of Rs 3,000 crore which was set during the tenure of the Siddaramaiah-led government, the civic agency had only collected only Rs 2,000 crore. During different review meetings, revenue officials have been asked to put the process into action at a better pace, but it was in vain.

“Revenue staff are not following the procedure properly. While they are supposed to issue three show cause notices to the defaulter, they make do with a single one, because of which the property can’t be confiscated,” Venkatachalapathy said.