GMC to take action against hundreds of errant malls

As the deadline to shopping malls to deposit property tax to Gurgaon Municipal Corporation will end on Monday, GMC is likely to start action against hundreds of defaulting malls in the Millennium City.

“We will soon discuss <g data-gr-id="33">future</g> course of action as most of the malls has not deposited the tax. We hope that the owners pay property tax in time to evade action as their properties will be sealed and licence cancelled,” said Vikas Gupta, MCG commissioner. According to <g data-gr-id="32">MCG</g> there are over 400 commercial establishments in Gurgaon which were issued warnings to deposit the property tax. The owners of several top malls, office complexes, eateries, real estate companies and shops have not paid the tax for the last five years. The dues, approximately Rs 500 crore, are pending despite the Haryana government recently offering rebates to owners of commercial establishments and the MCG sending repeated reminders.According to <g data-gr-id="30">officers</g> the civic body has collected only Rs 46 crore so far from 3.5 lakh owners this fiscal.

Additionally, the Haryana government has announced that those who pay property tax before August 31 can avail a rebate of 30% on the outstanding amount between 2010 and 2013. 

The total interest amount on the tax for 2014-15 will also be waved off. For the fiscal of 2013-14, MCG had aimed to collect Rs 200 crore towards property <g data-gr-id="26">tax,</g> but ended up with only Rs 54 crore.Meanwhile, mall owners said they had requested the Municipal Corporation of Gurgaon (MCG) to correct the property tax bill structure and were waiting for the revision.

“We have requested the MCG commissioner for a revised property tax bill. We will have to check if the correction has been made or not. But, we will pay the property tax before the due date,” JK Gupta, general manager of Sahara Mall on MG Road, said. 

“We will have to check with our department concerned if our property tax has been cleared or not,” said a senior executive of MGF Metropolitan Mall, MG Road. In the last six months, the MCG has conducted more than 50 property tax collection camps in several malls, group housing societies and other commercial establishments. The move was aimed to provide a hassle-free payment option to commercial establishment owners and residents. The corporation also, recently, introduced an online payment facility.