No relief for property owners hit by faulty zonal classification system

The state government is yet to provide relief to over 78,000 property owners who received notices over the BBMP’s faulty zonal classification system.

Despite government assurances to fix the issue, the Urban Development Department (UDD) has not issued formal orders in the last two years.

“We were served unfair tax notices for no fault of ours. When the previous Cabinet took a decision to withdraw the notices, there was some sign of relief. But it was temporary. Till date, the BBMP has not withdrawn the faulty notices. This has left many citizens anxious. The BBMP has also proposed a tax hike only to further burden us,” one of the affected citizens told DH.

Lalithamba B V, member of Bengaluru NavaNirmana Party, said the BBMP is proposing a tax hike without fixing the existing loopholes in the tax system.

“The hike is an additional burden on property owners who are still waiting for a solution from the BBMP,” she said.

The party has urged Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar to resolve the issue by examining the existing arrears and fixing loopholes in the BBMP tax system.