Gurugram: About 2,800 owners may lose water connection due to pending property tax

GURUGRAM: Around 2,800 property owners in the city may soon lose sewerage and water connections due to pending property tax amounting to Rs 1 lakh or more. The Municipal Corporation of Gurgaon (MCG) has served notices to these owners to clear property tax dues within 15 days, failing which they are likely to face disconnection.

In order to ensure compliance, MCG commissioner Vinay Pratap Singh has also directed tehsil officials not to allow the registration of a property unless the applicant has a no-objection certificate (NOC) from the corporation regarding payment of property tax.

Singh, in an order issued on Monday, directed the owners with property tax dues of Rs 1 lakh or more to clear them within the deadline, failing which the civic services would be disconnected and strict action would be taken against them for the recovery of dues.

“Around 2,800 owners who have failed to clear property tax dues despite extended deadlines and penalty waiver will face action. In case they fail to clear dues after disconnection, the corporation will seal the properties and initiate auction proceedings to recover the dues,” he said.

MCG zonal taxation officer (headquarters) Dinesh Kumar said the civic body has initiated the recovery of property tax dues, which amount to crores. “From April to September this year, the corporation has managed to recover Rs 145 crore by offering relief in interest. Last year, MCG had recovered Rs 168 crore in form of property tax,” he said.

MCG has also offered incentives to encourage residents to deposit property tax in a bid to generate more revenue. Singh said owners who clear their entire property tax dues by October 31 will get a 25% rebate on tax from 2010-11 to 2016-17.

Singh further said the corporation has decided not to allow registration for the properties which have taxes pending. “MCG has placed its own officials in the tehsil office — one per zone — to ensure the implementation of the order. In case anyone wishes to clear the property tax dues to obtain the NOC, they can do so at the property tax counter in the registration office,” he added.

The move is likely to bring some relief to the financially burdened civic body for short period, but MCG is unlikely to achieve the projected property tax collection of Rs 1,100 crore for the current year.

The corporation struggled to generate revenue in the first quarter of this financial year due to the Covid-induced lockdown. Till June-end, MCG was able to mop up only Rs 21 crore from property tax collections, and water and sewerage charges.

Revenue collection rose in July and the corporation generated Rs 100 crore more in form of property tax. Out of around four lakh property owners within MCG limits, around 2.27 lakh property owners had paid property tax by July-end, while 1.70 lakh owners were yet to pay.

In its budget, the civic body has pegged the revenue generation for 2020-21 at Rs 3,800 crore, including Rs 1,900 crore through stamp duty, Rs 1,100 crore as property tax and Rs 340 crore as recovery from private colonies.

Sources said while MCG has already collected Rs 145 crore in form of property tax, it will collect a maximum of Rs 50 crore more from the remaining owners. Thus, the total collection will be around Rs 200 crore, only around 20% of the projected property tax revenue in the budget.