Mayor's action forces mall to cough up Rs 10 cr tax

The drastic step of closing down a mall on Bannerghatta Road by the mayor helped the BBMP (Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike) collect property tax worth Rs 10 crore on Thursday.

Classic Reality Mall had not paid property tax to the tune of Rs 10.52 crore for the last seven years.

Mayor N Shanthakumari visited the mall and ordered its closure. This forced the mall owner to pay up Rs 10 crore by the evening. He handed over a cheque to Palike Commissioner M Lakshminarayana. Subsequently, the mall was allowed to reopen.

“We had issued a notice, but the mall approached the High Court. The court too asked the mall owner to pay up. We again issued a notice and asked them to pay at least half the amount. As they did not take our notices seriously, we closed down the mall,” Shanthakumari said in the afternoon.

The mall has nine MNCs operating out of the building. But the Palike officials found that only one of them had obtained trade licence. The mall also has shops, canteen, among others, and has about 2,500 employees working.

Since the mayor suspects the involvement of a few Palike officers also, an inquiry would be conducted in three days and the report submitted to the Bangalore Metropolitan Task Force (BMTF). “The BMTF will take action against the erring individuals after we submit the report,” she said.

According to the mayor, the mall has to pay a total of Rs 20 crore, including the fine.