Vellore Corporation cracks the whip to collect Rs 50 cr dues

VELLORE: The Vellore Corporation has adopted a carrot and stick policy to collect pending dues amounting to Rs 50 crore, sources said.

The local body being cash strapped to pay salaries for local staff resulted in Corporation Commissioner P Ashok Kumar seeking details of outstanding amounts some months ago.

“The figures were a revelation as property and house tax and underground drainage tax amounts in the local body alone amounted to Rs 35 crore with another Rs 15 crore dues being owed from shops rented out by the Corporation in various complexes,” an official said.

“Though the Corporation charges rents which are far below the amounts charged by private parties there is a mindset among traders occupying Corporation shops that they can default on rents without losing the premises. This has resulted in some persons owing rents for years amounting to lakhs of rupees,” he added.

It was then that the Corporation started wielding the stick by sealing shops which had run up rent arrears. “Once around 30 shops were sealed, the message got around that the local body meant business and hence many volunteered to pay their dues while others started paying up on time,” Ashok Kumar said.

However, in a bid to keep the momentum going, Ashok Kumar ordered bill collectors to collect the ration card details and mobile numbers of all residents “so that similar to Tangedco, users would be sent reminders of upcoming tax dues and when they had to be paid,” Ashok Kumar said.

Sources said that the message reached everybody, tax and dues could be paid at either the Corporation HQ or at the 15 bill collection centres in the town.

Though bill collectors were ordered to ensure collection of all records before the end of December, “the target was not likely to be reached due to the vast area involved. However, there is no doubt that once collected it will ensure smooth and proper collection of taxes for the local body,” a senior official seeking anonymity noted.