by THO
MUMBAI: Some of Mumbai’s top real estate developers and government corporations, among others, have been served notices for defaulting on property tax collectively amounting to ₹900 crore in 2024.
Notices to attach the properties of nine companies such as Life Insurance Company (LIC), Kamala Mills, DBS Realty and Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) were served two days ago by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).
The action was initiated after Ravi Raja, former corporator and former leader of the opposition in the BMC, met municipal commissioner Bhushan Gagrani and submitted a letter on January 15, to urge him to revoke a proposal to collect property tax from commercial structures in slums. Raja claimed this was unfair when the BMC was yet to recover property tax amounting to ₹6,000 crore from developers and private companies.
HT is in possession of the list of companies with outstanding property tax dues amounting to ₹900 crore from various entities in Colaba, Kurla-Saki Naka, Matunga, Parel, Bandra, Khar and Santacruz West.
Raja alleged, “Officials in the lower rung of the BMCs assessment and collection department are hand-in-glove with those who owe the BMC. These junior officials take bribes and look the other way every quarter, which is how the dues pile up to these astronomical sums.”
He said there was a proposal to collet property tax, with a target of ₹200 crore, from small commercial set-ups in Mumbai’s slums, which was unfair considering the big fish who are allowed to go scot-free. “Slum dwellers were hit hardest during the Covid pandemic. Now that they have begun to recover financially, it is wrong to bring them into the property tax net.”
Raja added, “If the municipal administration really wants to increase its revenue, they should go all out to recover the ₹6,000 crore owed by big builders and commercial establishments, property owners etc.”
Vishwas Shankarwar, joint municipal commissioner, confirmed that the BMC has issued defaulters attachment notices in the last couple of days. He said, “First, we serve them attachment notices. If they fail to pay their dues in 21 days, we initiate the process to seize movable property from their office premises. Usually, we seal computers, vehicles and auction them. If they still do not pay their dues, we proceed to auction their property.”
