JOIN USCriticising the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike’s (BBMP) proposed hike in property tax as exorbitant, the Citizens’ Action Forum (CAF), a consortium of about 150 residents’ welfare associations (RWAs) has decided to launch campaign against Palike’s decision. The consortium has urged the citizens to join the campaign.
At a press conference here on Friday, the CAF president D S Rajsekar and secretary P Mahalakshmi attributed the sorry financial condition of the Palike to poor management.
Rajsekar said, “The need of the hour is a major reform in the Palike to mobilise revenue from various sources. But the local body has opted to burden the citizens with an exorbitant hike in the property tax.”
The CAF president said that presently only around 55 per cent of the properties are under the tax net and in terms of the amount collected, the percentage is only 45%. “Therefore we demand to bring all the properties under the tax net,” said Rajsekar.
Mahalakshmi said the Palike has ignored the revenue from advertisement hoardings and rental income from more 3000 properties that it owns in Bengaluru.
Immediate survey
The CAF demands an immediate survey to determine the exact number of properties in Bengaluru.
The consortium of the RWAs has also pressed for concrete steps to collect Rs 6,500 crores from the rentals on advertisement hoardings, revising the rental agreements for all BBMP properties and putting all the information on Palike’s website with real-time updates and provide opportunity for constant feedback on non-compliance.