<p>Karnataka Rashtra Samithi on Friday termed the BBMP's move to levy 2 per cent land transport cess on property tax a "day-light robbery" and demanded the immediate withdrawal of the proposal.</p>.<p>The party's condemnation came a day after <em>DH</em> reported that the proposal, pending for quite some time due to fear of public backlash among corporators, has been approved by the BBMP administrator Gaurav Gupta and Urban Development Department. The corporation hopes to mop up about Rs 80 crore annually.</p>.<p>At a press conference, the party's state joint secretary Raghupati Bhat said the BBMP should focus on bringing transparency in its system before taking additional money from the public.</p>.<p>"The people of Bengaluru are already paying a cess of 24 per cent on property tax and shelling out additional cess on petrol and diesel to fund construction of Namma Metro. But there is no information as to how this money is being spent. The BBMP has become a black hole. The people do not get to know about how the money is spent by the corporation," he said.</p>.<p>Arogya Swamy, General Secretary of the party and L Jeevan, Bengaluru City secretary, said the BBMP should widen the tax net instead of burdening the existing taxpayers. Stating that there were 25 lakh properties in the city, they said officials should stop burdening the owners of the 18 lakh properties in the tax net.</p>
<p>Karnataka Rashtra Samithi on Friday termed the BBMP's move to levy 2 per cent land transport cess on property tax a "day-light robbery" and demanded the immediate withdrawal of the proposal.</p>.<p>The party's condemnation came a day after <em>DH</em> reported that the proposal, pending for quite some time due to fear of public backlash among corporators, has been approved by the BBMP administrator Gaurav Gupta and Urban Development Department. The corporation hopes to mop up about Rs 80 crore annually.</p>.<p>At a press conference, the party's state joint secretary Raghupati Bhat said the BBMP should focus on bringing transparency in its system before taking additional money from the public.</p>.<p>"The people of Bengaluru are already paying a cess of 24 per cent on property tax and shelling out additional cess on petrol and diesel to fund construction of Namma Metro. But there is no information as to how this money is being spent. The BBMP has become a black hole. The people do not get to know about how the money is spent by the corporation," he said.</p>.<p>Arogya Swamy, General Secretary of the party and L Jeevan, Bengaluru City secretary, said the BBMP should widen the tax net instead of burdening the existing taxpayers. Stating that there were 25 lakh properties in the city, they said officials should stop burdening the owners of the 18 lakh properties in the tax net.</p>
