The municipal corporation (MC) of Chandigarh has identified and prepared a list of around 150 commercial properties which are going to be sealed in the coming days for not paying property tax. Sealing notices had already been served to the owners of these properties, all of whom have to pay the MC over Rs 4 crore in property tax.
As per information, the MC had identified a total of 350 properties which were not paying tax. Taking strict action, the authority served sealing notices and sealed some of these properties too.
Soon after the action, around 200 property owners either deposited the tax amount on getting the sealing notices or paid the tax after their respective commercial building was sealed. Sealed properties could be reopenen once the tax payment is made.
“Since we had sent a number of recovery notices to the defaulters, we have been left with no option to start sealing the properties. Majority of the respective property tax amounts are not much, but still these defaulters are reluctant to deposit them,” sources revealed.
Since the property tax from commercial properties of Chandigarh is carrying the optimum amount, the civic body authority has been giving maximum focus on the same.
Though the recovery notices are being sent to tax defaulters of residential properties too, sealing notices are only being sent to commercial properties, as the authority cannot seal houses.
The MC has kept a target to earn Rs 80 crore from property tax in the ongoing financial year (2022-2023). The amount includes arrears pending from government departments and authorities too.
The amount has also been mentioned in the annual budget of the MC. Since the collection of the property tax is the most crucial segment for the MC to generate revenue from its own resources, the authority is giving maximum focus to the collection of property tax.
