Are you charging parking fees, Gurugram civic body asks malls

GURUGRAM: MCG has issued notices to 127 commercial sites, including shopping malls and hospitals,
seeking information on whether they are offering free or paid parking, and if they are paying property tax
for those facilities or not.
The move appears to be an attempt by the corporation to take stock of commercial sites that claimed tax
rebate in a scheme that offered incentives for not charging parking fees. The civic body has sought information from shopping malls on the number of basements in their
premises, the total area of these basements and if parking is chargeable. If it is, malls have to specify the
date that they started charging parking fees and whether they are paying the mandated property tax for it. In 2017, MCG came up with a tax waiver scheme for shopping malls that said those offering free parking to the public can get a property tax rebate.
“We have constituted teams that will check whether the public parking is free or not. If they are paid,
we’ll check if the shopping malls are paying property tax for those parking facilities or not. It is the
decision of the shopping malls to make their parking free or paid. If it is free, they should also display it
on board for the public to know,” MCG commissioner PC Meena told TOI on Thursday. Mall managements have until April 19 to submit this information.
Earlier this week, MCG commissioner suspended a tax inspector and clerk of the taxation department for inaccurately assessing property tax of a shopping mall located on MG Road. The mall was availing
property tax rebate, but it wasn’t offering free parking to the public.
Officials said that the malls benefiting from the tax rebate scheme are still charging parking fees from the public. The commissioner said that stern action will be taken against such establishments.