Panchkula MC to seal institutional properties over unpaid tax

The Municipal Corporation, Panchkula, has decided to seal institutional properties, owners of which have failed to pay pending property tax. The decision was taken during a meeting of the Revenue Realisation Committee of the MC held on Friday under the chairmanship of Mayor Kulbhushan Goyal.

Officials at the Corporation said they had collected Rs 13.25 crore property tax during the current financial year and the MC was yet to recover another Rs 82 crore. Therefore, the MC has started issuing notices to owners.

The Corporation has also listed 35 institutions, which are yet to pay property tax amounting to over Rs 5 lakh. The properties will be sealed in case they failed to pay the pending amount.

Mayor Kulbhushan Goyal said their target was to collect Rs 25 crore in this financial year. “Last year, we had collected Rs 18 crore as property tax,” he said.

Goyal elaborated that about 1 lakh properties come under Panchkula Municipal Corporation. “We have collected more property tax in Panchkula compared to Manesar, Rohtak, Hisar and Yamunanagar. We have issued directions to collect the due amount from malls and business institutions, including the under-construction Shalimar Mall, which has not paid the tax for the past three years.”

It was discussed during the meeting that Rs 3.62 crore was yet to be recovered from mobile tower and mobile companies. Officials said the companies had assured to deposit the pending amount. The MC also decided to snap the connections of eight companies, which have installed overhead connectivity wires but have failed to pay the due amount. The officials said the MC will carry out a drive to snap the connections of such companies within seven days.

Advertisement tax

The MC has started receiving Rs 7.68 lakh from advertisements installed on unipoles and gantries. The MC had auctioned five gantries for the collective amount per month. Besides, the MC has received Rs 45 lakh from booking of the city’s community centres.

Action against illegal constructions

The MC has decided to take action against those who have made illegal constructions in buildings. The MC has issued notices to all farmhouses built near Kot and Billa villages. It plans to issue reminders to such farmhouses and demolish these in a week.

Taxes under other heads

The MC has received Rs 76 lakh from the city’s farmer markets this year. It has received about Rs 25 crore from the government in the form of stamp duty.