Rs 130 cr tax due from 5,000 buildings to Corpn

According to a Corporation official attached to the revenue wing, several commercial buildings have huge arrears of property tax. “We are only collecting the property tax arrears up to 2018. Due to the lockdown, we are not forcing the defaulters to pay the tax for the pandemic period as of now,” he said. 

As per the data, around 5,000 buildings in the city had a default between Rs 50,000 and Rs 1 lakh and close to 5,200 buildings had a default of more than Rs 1 lakh. This adds up to Rs 230 crore as default up to 2018. The defaulting buildings include State and central government buildings. Of the 10,200 buildings, 300 buildings are high-value defaulters. 

The official added that a meeting was conducted at the Ripon Buildings on August 12, in which Gagandeep Singh Bedi, Chennai Corporation Commissioner, instructed the revenue wing to take stringent measures to collect arrear amounts. “Based on the instruction, revenue officials in some zones started to erect banners in front of the defaulting (high-value defaulters) buildings. We are also disconnecting electricity to the buildings, who refuse to pay up despite naming and shaming,” he said. 

During the last 15 days, the civic body has collected around Rs 100 crore of the total Rs 230 crore default. Of the 5,200 buildings that have a default of more than Rs 1 lakh, the civic body has recovered tax arrears from around 2,300 buildings to the tune of Rs 80 crore. Also, Rs 20 crore has been collected from around 2,000 buildings that had a default of Rs 50,000 to Rs 1 lakh. 

The official said most of the defaulting buildings are in zones like Kodambakkam, Teynampet, Ambattur and Anna Nagar. On Friday, banners were erected in front of S2 Spectrum Mall in Thiru Vi Ka Nagar zone. The building had a total default of Rs 1.23 crore. Overall, the civic body has collected Rs 210 crore during the current half-year, including arrears.