The Mysuru City Corporation’s “banner campaign” for recovering property tax dues from top defaulters has come under criticism with traders and businessmen in Mysuru accusing the MCC of ‘harassing’ and ‘targeting’ them in the name of tax recovery.
In a bid to recover the unpaid tax running into crores of rupees, the MCC launched the banner campaign in which banners would be put up before the commercial establishments with the details on the outstanding dues, name of defaulter and other details. The banners will also have details on provisions under the law and the action the MCC would take for recovering the dues.
The Federation of Organisations and Associations of Mysuru, a body of traders and businessmen, on Friday said the MCC’s tax structure was ‘imbalanced’ and the traders have been demanding streamlining of the tax system.
It said the delay in payment of property tax by the commercial establishments and others was because of relief sought from the government by them in view of COVID-19. However, there was no response from the government on their plea.
Federation President B.S. Prashanth alleged that the MCC was misleading the public by stating that the taxes have not been paid by some property owners since the last 8 to 10 years whereas the fact is that taxes for the period of only one year was pending.
The MCC had said top 20 defaulters in each zone of the city have been identified and they are being focused on for recovery and not everyone. Moreover, only those who have not paid tax for many years are being targeted, as the tax was the main source of revenue for the MCC.
Mysuru Hotel Owners’ Association President C. Narayana Gowda said Mysuru’s tax structure was different from other cities, including Bengaluru. The tax structure was ‘biased’ and ‘unfriendly’.
He alleged that the MCC got the power supply of some hotels disconnected for not paying the tax for one year. The tax was not paid in view of COVID-19 as the hotels and other sectors suffered due to the pandemic.
The traders also cited the imposition of “super commercial tax” on certain properties which was unheard of in other cities.
The Federation took strong objection to the MCC’s move to disparage trade and business communities in the name of tax collection by resorting to means like the banner campaign.
Reacting to the traders’ charges, MCC Commissioner Lakshmikanth Reddy told The Hindu that the MCC was going ahead with its drive and defaulters have to cooperate with the MCC by clearing their tax dues.
He clarified that the MCC was not targeting those who have kept their dues pending for one year and also not putting up banners on their premises. However, such persons have been served notices and only those who have kept their dues for more than two years are being brought under the drive. “We have disconnected the UGD of those who have continued to default on tax and the MCC has no jurisdiction to disconnect power supply to the properties of the defaulters as claimed,” Mr. Reddy said.
