With Rs 3,100-cr shortfall, Greater Bengaluru Authority to go after tax defaulters

Bengaluru: With property tax collections lagging behind the annual target, the Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) has directed its five city corporations to identify top defaulters and expedite recovery of dues.

At a virtual review meeting on Monday, Chief Commissioner M Maheshwar Rao instructed officials to map properties with the highest outstanding dues and launch measures to recover pending tax without delay. He also asked corporations to trace properties and individuals currently outside the tax net and bring them under the property tax system.

Special Commissioner (Revenue) Munish Moudgil said the five corporations have set a target of Rs 6,700 crore in property tax for the year. However, only Rs 3,533 crore has been collected so far, which is barely over half the target.

Data presented during the meeting shows: 24,000 property tax revision cases are pending, amounting to nearly Rs 170 crore, and around 22,000 defaulters owe a total of Rs 598 crore.

To accelerate recovery, each corporation has been instructed to prepare a list of 100 revision cases and 100 major defaulters in every division.

Moudgil said revenue inspectors and revenue collectors would be given clear targets and warned that commercial properties may be sealed wherever necessary to ensure recovery.

City corporation commissioners Rajendra Cholan, Pommala Sunil Kumar, Ramesh DS, Ramesh KN, and Dr Rajendra KV attended the meeting, along with additional and joint commissioners (Revenue).