Thanekars gear up for Cleanliness contest!

Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) chose a unique way of celebrating Ambedkar Jayanti this year. Thane is one city which is taking the Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan very seriously. After running a successful movement to make the city defecation-free, the civic body has now introduced a cleanliness competition for housing societies and slums where the winners will enjoy a five per cent rebate in yearly property tax amount.

“The entry for this contest begins on April 14 and the last date to fill forms is April 30,” said Sandip Malvi, public relations officer, TMC. “The contest will start from May 1 and end on July 31. The contestants will be reviewed from August 1 to August 14,” he added.

The TMC has set certain parameters on which the contenders will be evaluated. The parameters on which contestants will be scored are – clean surroundings (20 points), solid waste management (15 points), tree plantation (10), use of solar power (10), rainwater harvesting (10 points), functional fire equipment (10), voter registration (10) and no defaults in property tax payments (5 points).

“The winner in housing complexes category will get 5% rebate in annual property tax, while for the winning slums, the municipal corporation will undertake development work to the tune of Rs. 10 lakh to Rs15 lakh,” added Malvi.

The residents of Thane have welcomed this move. Some societies in the city who have a rain water harvesting system already enjoy a rebate in property tax and the new contest has excited Thanekars. This cleanliness drive however, should not be limited to the competition only; rather good practices should be maintained throughout.

Do you really own your land as per law?

Did you know that paperwork like tax receipts is not enough to prove you are the owner of a property? Yes, you’d be surprised to know that a transaction entered into between a buyer and seller of land is simply recorded at the registration and stamps duty office. However, it is only a record, and not a clear proof entitling the owner to his or her land. So, the formalities, as regards transfer papers and tax receipts aren’t legally binding documents.

In a landmark legislative move, the Rajasthan government recently passed the Urban Land (Certification of Titles) Bill or simply put the land titling Bill, which makes land and property acquisitions easier, transparent and safer. For the common man, this basically means that The Bill aims at giving the buyer of a property a clear title, which removes all doubts as to who owns the property. In other words, the state guarantees you that the land under your name is yours. You aren’t the ‘assumed’ owner.

If you are wondering what is the current law on land title, here’s a primer. When there is a dispute between two parties over land, the true owner of the land cannot make a rightful claim on the land if it is challenged. Therefore, one could end up losing the land, and chances are that the owner may not get the market rate for it.

So, how is the titling Bill different? The Bill proposes to ensure that the true owner will get the market price for the land. Also, any disputes over the land can be resolved by having a look at the guarantee title document.

To take a leaf out of the Rajasthan government’s positive move in this direction, other state governments need to begin by computerizing all property-related documents that are registered with the Registrar Offices and create a database to keep out any illegal claims from coming forward.

KDMC new Property Tax collection method

While it is the end of 2015 for others, it’s the beginning of property tax collection regime for the Kalyan-Dombivli Municipal Corporation. The KDMC usually commences its property tax collection in January – February every year, however this time it has decided to start the drive early to ensure that tax payers clear their dues.

In a novel move, the civic body has decided to seize priced possessions of those who prefer to look the other way round when it comes to pay their property taxes. Evasive tax payers will not only lose costly household items but also their homes if they fail to pay property tax this year to the KDMC.

“If people fail to clear off their property dues, we will confiscate their household items like refrigerator, TV and washing machine,” said Anil Lad, Assessor and Collector of Taxes, KDMC. “There is a provision in the law to do so and we will be doing it literally this time,” he added.

Besides, if the tax liability is very high, they will seal the offender’s flat and later auction it to recover the dues.

“In 2013 and 2014, an Abhay Yojana was launched by the KDMC where people could pay their taxes and penalty on it was abolished,” said Lad. ”this time also, people are hoping for the same scheme so that they can forgo the penalty and interest. However, this will not happen,” he said adding that the abolition of octroi and LBT has resulted in huge financial crunch for the corporation.

If this drive is successful, KDMC plans to use the same strategy in water tax collection also.

Image credits: DNA

Now onwards, in South Delhi area, the farm house owners will not get any kind of relaxation in property tax because civic body of Delhi under DMC Act has launched a one of the most awaited drive for recovery of property tax which are in the form of dues from defaulters under the violation of strict scrutiny of other building laws as well. As per the statement of Dr Puneet Kumar Goel, who is SDMC commissioner we have been launched a special drive is for the attachment of property tax recovery which due from the side of farm house owners. The more he added that in last week, more than 29  farm houses have been attached for non-payment of property tax dues and these areas are; Kapashera, Deramandi, Daulatpur, Mehrauli, Metraon and Sultanpur.

According to Dr Puneet, under the Provisions of Section 1115 (1) (i) of Delhi Municipal Corporation Act, all the vacant lands and buildings, which are in the use for agricultural purposes are exempt from the payment of any kinds of property tax and they are subject to the DMC Act of  Bye-law 5. However; it is well known fact that according to Bye-law 5, the primary conditions for availing any kind of exemption, the land or property should be located in the rural or agricultural for farm activities. Whereas; there is no such exemption from payment of property tax is applicable for the owners of farm houses, as per the statement of Senior Officer of SDMC. According to the statement of Mr Ram Mohan Singh, who is assessor & collector, “Our assessment & collection department have noticed that there are many farm house owners which are still claiming that there is exemption for agricultural activities and due to that they are not applicable to pay the taxes. The more he added that during last few years we have issued more than 2,000 notices to such farm house owners and apart from that we have made more than 500 assessments for the demand for raise property tax on such defaulters, however; we have also initiated the penalty proceedings against such farm houses.

According to Mr Ram Mohan Singh, such drives has been intensified for the current financial year and till now we have issued a notices for 3,000 owners of farm houses, who are not showing any interest to pay their property taxes. As per the officials, in order to make sure the collection from such farm houses owners, till now we have attached 50 bank accounts and now we are movie towards the nest step where we are planning to auction those properties to recover the due property tax. These defaulters will also be deeply scrutinized for violation of land and other building laws as well.

As per the officials, property taxes from the from farm houses are the major source of revenue for the SDMC because many farm houses are located within the jurisdiction of the (MPD-2021) Master Plan of Delhi 2021 and it has significantly reduced the area for rural and agricultural zones in all over the Delhi. The more they have added that now we have started the door-to-door survey for all farm houses which are in our jurisdiction and soon we will start the special drive which will run throughout the year. However; there are some areas where the exemptions for rural and agricultural activities are under the Section 115 of the DMC Act and those areas have been drastically reduced in past few years.

property taxes by (NMC)

According to reports, recently, the NMC (Nagpur Municipal Corporation) has hiked the property taxes by 13 per cent for current fiscal. And it is expected that people in this region will witness the more hike in the second demand note with the time of implementation of new tax system.

It was big surprise for all taxpayers because the amount of tax has been increased by 10 per cent which is much more than expected. Recently, the civic body of Nagpur had taken two decisions, which is related to property taxes. One was to implement a new tax system for property under which tax is expected to rise by almost two times and the other is to introduce four new taxes with the hike of 4 per cent. However; the tax was rise by the 3 per cent after the implementation of four new different taxes. Whereas; in the first demand note, the Nagpur Municipal Corporation introduced four new taxes and scrapped one old tax system, which means tax was supposed to increased by 3 per cent, but tax increased by 13 per cent, which includes 10 per cent rise in general tax and 3 per cent rise in new tax.

The Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) officials stated to TOI, that this new revaluation of existing properties is about to start with an aim to implement new tax system. The more they added that on demand notes it will be issued later that in current fiscal year we are asking the taxpayers to deposit more amount than previous under the new property tax system. Girish Deshmukh, who is the Chairman of tax consultative committee, stated that this new tax system will be good for taxpayers because the major beneficiaries will be them as they are used to rent the properties. With this new tax system, the property taxes for rented property will come down till to a great extent. The more he added that the tax amount of other properties will get the increase but it will be not more than two times. According to Deshmukh, it is the major step for the convenience of taxpayers and directives have been issued to make sure that mutation of all property taxes should be completed within seven days, however; for the assessment of new properties they have just 15 days.

As per the statement of Deshmukh, there will be the special camps for the assessment of new cases and disposing of mutation and these camps will be in all ten zones. Till now they have received 283 for new assessment and 356 applications for mutation, out of which 164 applications for new assessment and 134 applications for mutation disposed of in camps itself, and they have generated the revenues of Rs 32.54 lakh on that day.

Schools & Colleges should be taxed at residential rates

NMC has been hitherto unable to provide records of property tax accounts on orders of state information commissioner.  It has emerged from the findings of an RTI application that the civic body does not levy a common rate of property tax on schools and colleges in its jurisdiction.

Consumer activist Shankar Gulani has obtained information under Right to Information (RTI) Act that shows that while most schools and colleges are levied tax at residential rates, taxes of a few are being assessed at commercial rates. As per the Municipal Act, schools & colleges whether aided or non-aided should be taxed at residential rates.

The educational bodies which are being charged at commercial rates are unaware of this random functioning of the NMC. These schools are paying double the taxes they should be paying as per law.

The information given by Dhantoli zone under the RTI filing reveals the level of arbitrariness in property tax department. Out of the 13 educational institutes paying property tax to NMC, Bhide Girls High School, Bhide Girls Primary School, Dinanath High School, Bengali Education Society, Sule High School, Mount Carmel Girls School, Oswal Education Society and Pragati High School are charged property tax at residential rates, whereas Matru Sewa Sangh maternity home, South Indian Education Society, Shivaji Science College and New English School are charged at commercial rate.

The RTI activist had gathered data on this random taxation model zone wise. Only 8 out of 10 zones provided a response. Despite warnings from the Information Commissioner, the NMC officials have not provided complete records soght by Gulani in his demand notes.

Pay property tax to be eligible for contest to poll in the election

Now Maharashtra property department has reason to joy as more than 1,800 people, including poll contestants are now queuing up to pay property tax before the upcoming NMMC election (Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation). Now it will be mandatory for aspiring candidates to clear all their pending dues with the corporations to be eligible for contest to poll in the election and acquire NOC (No Objection Certificate) from the department.

Even those who propose or second the proposal of a civic candidate, they all have to pay up all arrears and dues. According to assessor and collector P B Kulkarni, “such large turnout to pay property tax or if they are seeking for NOC so it’s rare. But before elections, all the aspirants and other members who are involved in proposing or supporting candidates they need to certificate. In simple words we can say that the major part of payments is primarily due to the coming elections”.

In other words we can say that the majority of payments are primarily due in the coming elections, stated by collector and assessor P B Kulkarni. In last 15 years, the property department has managed to recover a sum of Rs 3 crore from 1,700-odd individuals, as till Friday, the department has issued NOCs to 1,762 individuals. As per the pending applications, officials are expecting that more than 2,500 individuals to make payments. As per the statement of officials, “at this point of time we are expecting more payments before the deadline for filling nominations lapses, as department should be able to recover taxes of around Rs 6.5 crore”.

Now property department of Maharashtra is conducting recovery drives to meet its annual target of Rs 425 crore, however notice has been issued for more than 23,628people who are defaulters and punitive action such as disconnecting water supply of 48 individuals are being initiated. The more Mr. Kulkarni added that a list of attach bank accounts of 163 defaulters has been prepared however till now action has been taken against 89 people.

Short of property tax collection

It is expected that one of the civic body, Nashik Municipal Corporation (NMC) may fall short of property tax target by 32 per cent in current financial year due to poor response of tax defaulters. Recently, NMC has already issued warrants and notices to the tax defaulters and is planning to confiscate movable and immovable properties from next month.

As per records, civic body had set a target of Rs 110 crore for property tax collection in current financial year. It is recorded that till March 15 in the current fiscal, Nashik Municipal Corporation (NMC) collected Rs 67.65 crore against Rs 65.50 crore during the corresponding period in the last financial year 2013-14. The NMC’s property tax revenue is expected to touch Rs 75 crore by the end of March 31, however while speaking with media channel of the of the official stated that “In current year our property tax collection has increased by 4 per cent to Rs 67.65 crore by March 15 as compared to the revenue during the same period last year. But still we can achieve only 68 per cent of our tax collection target for this financial year as only 15 days are left for the end of the fiscal.”

Property tax collection statics:

For the duration of 2013-2014, the Nashik Municipal Corporation (NMC) had set a property tax collection target of Rs 105.68 crore out of which it collected Rs 71.74 crore and it had collected Rs 62.73 crore during 2012-13. When it comes to different divisions, so there are total 3.80 lakh properties across six divisions of the civic body – 73,108 properties in Nashik East, 40,482 properties in Satpur, 66,205 properties in Nashik Road, 35,529 in Nashik West and 86,871 properties in Cidco divisions.

One of the official of NMC states that “We have taken lawful action against defaulters as we have issued notices and warrants to defaulters to pay their dues by March 31. We will start confiscating movable and immovable properties from April.” According to reports, NMC has issued warrants to defaulters of 2,144 property owners in past two months by giving them an ultimatum of 21 days to pay their dues. Till now 1,000 defaulters have paid full and partial payment amounting to Rs 2 crore, as earlier we were issued a final notice to 30,000 property tax defaulters giving them a deadline of 15 days to pay taxes from the date of issuance of notices.

Small properties will be excluded from new tax system

In a positive move to bring relief to around 8 lakh households in the city, BMC has decided to exclude structures below 500 sq ft from the capital value based property tax system once again. They will now continue to pay property tax based on the old system of ready reackoner rates.

This fresh proposal was tabled before the civic general body meeting by leader of the house Trishna Vishwasrao (Shiv Sena) as the made a suggestion that structures under 500 sq ft should be excluded from the capital value based property tax system as many of these were Maharashtrian households. According to new property tax proposal the BMC had decided to charge properties below 500 sq ft as per the new system, at the standing committee meeting on Thursday. This BMC proposal passed unanimously in the civic general body meeting however, now proposal will be sent to the state government for its final nod. If BMC proposal will get the nod from state government, so it will continue for five years.

As per the Civic officials, with new changes in property tax system BMC would lose additional revenues of Rs 55 crore by excluding below 500 sq ft structures from the system, as civic body was earning Rs 148 crore from these structures under the old ready reckoner system.

As per the Congress corporator Pravin Chheda, “It was the proposal of earlier Congress government which had given exemption to people to live in structures of 500 sq ft from the capital value based property tax system. So we demanded adding this to the new proposal.” As we all know that with effect from April 1, 2010, the BMC was adopted capital value based property tax system, and according to it the tax was about calculated on the basis of capital value of the property. And after that state government had decided to exempt structures below 500 sq ft from it for the five-year period of 2010-15.

Queries regarding House tax

Vivek Kalia, Joint commissioner of MCG, stated that the move comes in existence when some junior staff members were caught demanding bribes from people who had come to the office to pay house or property tax. The more he added that “In past 48 hours we have caught four junior officers like attendants, peons and clerks were found demanding money from residents who came to pay property tax or collect birth and death certificates.” Vivek said all of the employees who were demanding bribes have been suspended and police complaints have been filed against them.

Why email id?

According to officials of MCG, “We have started the email id so that residents and other people can seek clarification regarding tax notices as well as they will be able to attach the necessary documents and we will answer doubts on the email itself. In special cases people will be free to provide us phone numbers and we’ll call them and fix an appointment so that they can come and meet us directly, instead of getting harassed by junior staff”.

However, some of the officials said, it is interim step and harassment would only stop when the civic agency starts an online payment system on its website to pay the property tax and submit fee to obtain other documents.