BBMP mulls double-tax on building plan bylaw violators

Despite being the state capital, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) is the only civic body in the state, which is not collecting double tax for unauthorised constructions. This was revealed by the BBMP Commissioner N Manjunath Prasad.

A week after Deputy Chief Minister G Parameshwara announced that the BBMP will double the property tax for building plan violators, Prasad wrote to the Urban Development Department (UDD) proposing an amendment to the Karnataka Municipal Corporations Act, 1976. The proposal to the state government is to include BBMP in the double tax net, like other urban local bodies in the state.

Double tax means levying 100% additional property tax on those who violate building by-laws. The move is important to the BBMP, as it helps curb the number of unauthorised constructions and rampant building plan deviations.

“It is only the BBMP that does not follow the double tax rule. All other civic bodies and corporations in the state have been following the system of collecting double tax from violators. I have written a letter to the UDD proposing to bring BBMP also in the same net. It is time that we do it,” said Prasad.

According to the data collated by the BBMP, close to 3 lakh properties in the city are found to have made unauthorised constructions. “The city is witnessing rampant construction work, with the growing population. There has to be orderly growth,” Prasad said.

Shankar Ramanathan, a property owner from Pattabhiram Nagar ward said, “It is ironic. Being the state capital, we have to set an example regarding the growth of the city. But we are the last ones to have double tax system for unauthorised constructions, or for violating building plan sanctions.”