The Thrikkakara municipality has assessed a whopping ₹23 crore in building tax dues during the past one decade and has now embarked on a special drive to collect it and initiate legal action wherever necessary.
As a first step, the municipality has identified 277 consumers who have run up minimum dues of ₹50,000 with collective dues running to nearly ₹10 crore. Dues in many cases run into lakhs of rupees. Among the defaulters include individual residents, private and software companies, and government offices.
Though Thrikkakara was upgraded from a panchayat to municipality in 2010 and building tax dues date back to that period, the civic body had effectively written off dues for the first three years since its birth and had set 2013 as the cut-off period reportedly as per a government order. “We are in the process of sending notices to the 277 consumers identified with minimum dues of ₹50,000. We have sent notices as registered post to around 80 of them. Wherever consumers deny to accept the notice, our officials are personally visiting them to put up the notice to make sure that they do not take refuge in not having received notices as and when things move on to the litigation stage,” said municipal vice chairman and chairperson of the finance standing committee P.M. Younus.
For instance, last week, municipal officials visited the Public Works department (buildings) office operating at NGO Quarters and put up the notice after officials there declined to accept the notice for dues to the tune of ₹13.08 lakh.
Among the 277 consumers identified, 101 owed over ₹50,000, 67 over ₹1 lakh, five over ₹2 lakh, six over ₹5 lakh, and five owed ₹10 lakh.
Mr. Younus said notices would be issued in a phased manner as it was not possible to issue them at one go and would emerge a hurdle when the municipality initiates litigation. Once the initially identified 277 defaulters are covered, the municipality plans to move on to collect dues from the rest.
