Cheque bounce cases galore in BBMP

In the last six years, 756 cheques for Rs 88.36 lakh were dishonoured in BBMP’s Rajarajeshwari (RR) Nagar zone and the Palike officials could not pursue the matter.

These details came to light when the BBMP Standing Committee on Taxation and Finance, led by chairman M Shivaraju, carried out an inspection on Monday. Around  8,035 cheques worth Rs 6.24 crore were dishonoured in six years and a sum of Rs 5.36 crore had been recovered. The committee members also came to know that a tax inspector, involved in the taxation fraud, is absconding with 33 cheques.

The property tax collection target for RR Nagar was Rs 160 crore, of which only 97.52 crore could be collected. It was also learnt that there are 165 apartments in the zone and the collection from there so far, is Rs 3.77 crore, while Rs 99 lakh has not been paid yet. The committee was displeased over the poor performance of the tax officers.

It was also learnt that a prominent tech park in the City has not paid a tax of Rs 84 crore. The Palike officials have been directed to put up a board of major defaulters in front of its office.

Speaking to Deccan Herald, Shivaraju said the problem of dishonoured cheques was huge and is prevalent in all the eight zones. He said a recent inspection at Yelahanka revealed cheques worth Rs 51 lakh were dishonoured and could not be recovered. So is the case with two other zones where Rs 81 lakh and about Rs 1 crore could not be recovered.