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NALA tax scares Hyderabad residents
More than one lakh Land Regularisation Scheme (LRS) applicants who are running from pillar to post to get their lands regularised at HMDA offices over the last two months were in for a rude shock after officials asked them to shell out 9 per cent as Non-Agricultural Land Assessment (NALA) charges against the stipulated three per cent.
Hyderabad: More than one lakh Land Regularisation Scheme (LRS) applicants who are running from pillar to post to get their lands regularised at HMDA offices over the last two months were in for a rude shock after officials asked them to shell out 9 per cent as Non-Agricultural Land Assessment (NALA) charges against the stipulated three per cent.
The LRS applicants accused HMDA officials of collecting 9 per cent NALA charges from fresh applicants even after the State government brought down the charges from 9 to 3 per cent. They alleged that due to lack of clarity on the part of MA&UD department, all layout approvals had been stopped due to the ongoing tussle between realtors and HMDA officials over NALA charges.
- HMDA authorities hike Non-Agricultural Land Assessment charges from the existing 3 per cent to 9 per cent
G Ramu, a vacant land owner in Ameenpur village said his LRS application had been pending since 2008 despite paying full amount to regularise it. He said the HMDA officials had asked him to reapply during the Phase II of regularisation under LRS scheme in October 2015.
He said applicants who applied between October and December were receiving text messages from HMDA officials asking them to pay 9 per cent NALA charges. He also said officials were reluctant to receive his application without the 9 per cent charges on the total property.
The implementing authority has been issuing notices to more than one lakh LRS applicants asking them to pay 9 per cent NALA charges claiming that the scheme had come into force only from January this year.
In fact, the State government announced LRS scheme in October 2015 and a Government Order has been issued in January 2016. Officials of the HMDA have been claiming that the scheme had come in to force only after the issuance of the order. The government issued a GO No 4 (dated January 16), pertaining to decrease in NALA charges from the existing 9 per cent to 3 per cent.
The HMDA has received 1,19,920 LRS applications, and another 12,082 old applications were pending with it since 2008. Land owners in HMDA limits have been claiming that they have not paid any NALA charges during Congress’ tenure which had announced the LRS scheme during the erstwhile united Andhra Pradesh in 2008.
Federation of Associations of Colonies and Apartments president N Anjaiah slammed the HMDA authorities for collecting 6 per cent additional NALA tax in order to regularise lands under LRS scheme. He said HMDA officials were not only disobeying the GO issued by the State government, but were also harassing land owners to pay extra NALA charges.
He said the HMDA authorities also claimed that the extra amount collected would be deposited into the land owner’s bank accounts once they got clear instructions from the government on the issue. CPI (M) city secretary M Srinivas said on Sunday that HMDA officials had been indulging in ‘petty acts’ with an eye on mobilising revenues.
He demanded that the State government issue clear instructions to HMDA authorities on NALA charges and roll back its decision to collect NALA tax for regularising lands under LRS scheme.
An HMDA official, on request of anonymity, said, “We did not receive clear instructions from the State government. We will deposit the difference amount into the land owner’s bank account upon receiving clear guidelines from the government. Till then we will continue to collect 9 per cent NALA charges from applicants.”
