Two months after the city corporation released the list of top 100 property tax defaulters, who had to pay Rs 21 crore, only 48 of them had paid the tax till Thursday.
The corporation had released the list of top 20 defaulters in each of its five zones on October 27. Most of the defaulters were educational institutions, companies and commercial establishments. Some of them had not paid their due since 1998.
While releasing the list, the corporation had warned the defaulters to pay the due amount at the earliest to avoid disconnection of water supply and also warned to seize the movable properties if they fail to pay the due amount even after disconnecting water connection.
“In the last two months, as many as 48 defaulters paid Rs 4.39 crore. We continue to warn the remaining defaulters. A drive is also going on to collect the tax amount,” said a corporation official.
But city-based activists slammed the civic body for being too lenient on the defaulters. “If the defaulters had not paid the due amount even after two months, the corporation should have taken action against them and collected the pending amount,” said activist K Kathirmathiyon. “No penalty is being slapped on them. The corporation should slap penalties and an interest on the pending amount to make such people pay. Also, it should not provide them any approval or service connection unless the due amount is paid.”
Most of the defaulters are businessmen, said activist S P Thiyagarajan. “Why is the corporation hesitating to take action? It should make the defaulters understand that they will be punished if they don’t pay the tax on time. By being too lenient, the corporation is setting a bad example.”
