Team Blitz India
MUMBAI: The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has initiated legal action against property tax defaulters whose cheques have bounced. Dishonour of a cheque is a criminal offence and punishable by both imprisonment and fine. As per data till March 31, 2024, 892 cheques deposited in the bank, amounting to Rs 43.54 crore, bounced.
Most defaulters were builders and owners of commercial premises and societies, according to civic sources. The corporation sent notices to all these defaulters under the Negotiable Instruments Act and recovered Rs 37.83 crore from 853 of them in the past few months. However, warnings to 38 have gone unheeded.
As per data from the assessor and collection department, around 3,945 properties have been attached worth over Rs 2,237 crore since 2010. After facing a severe cash crunch during the pandemic, the civic authorities started cracking down on property tax defaulters.
Despite not having sufficient balance, the defaulters issued cheques to avoid BMC intervention in attachment of properties for non-payment.
Property tax is the second-highest revenue source for BMC. The corporation managed to collect Rs 3,195 crore as property tax, which is Rs1,300 crore short of the Rs 4,500 crore target set for the 2023-24 fiscal.
