Palike beats drums to shame defaulters

The Palike has taken up drum-beating again to force the property tax defaulters to pay the dues. Besides, the Palike has decided to revaluate the properties which have been undervalued to evade taxes.

The Palike has identified many schools and colleges, industrial units, commercial buildings, big residential structures, garment factories and other commercial establishments which have not paid their taxes for the last five years.

During the review meeting on the property tax recovery on Wednesday, the Palike revenue officers told BBMP Commissioner Siddaiah that at least 2,000 major commercial and industrial buildings in the City have not paid their taxes for the past several years.

On learning about it from the officers, he directed them to revaluate such properties and collect the dues. He instructed the officers to form three to four teams of officers at ward level and levy penalties on the defaulters.

As part of filling the Palike's coffer, the BBMP on Wednesday carried out drum-beating in front of many educational institutions and the garment factories at Bommanahalli zone, from where the Palike expects to collect tax dues of Rs 103 crore.