KMC recovers Rs 30–50L in 24 hrs following Sreeram Arcade drive

Kolkata: The Assessment Department of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) sealed around 15 shops at Shreeram Arcade in Esplanade during a surprise drive after detecting substantial pending property tax dues.

With the financial year nearing its end, the civic body has decided to intensify enforcement drives across the city against commercial establishments that have defaulted on property tax payments.

According to senior officials in the Assessment department, the sudden raid at the busy Shreeram Arcade was conducted with the assistance of a large police contingent.

Shops that had earlier received notices for non-payment of property tax but continued to evade tax were sealed on the spot.

The operation was carried out on the basis of a list of shops and commercial establishments that had earlier been issued summons for non-payment of property tax. Defaulters were given time till the end of February to clear their dues.

“The shop owners have been further informed that if the outstanding property tax is not cleared by March 31, the shops may be auctioned to recover the dues,” said an official of the Assessment department.

The shopping complex reportedly has a substantial amount of unpaid property taxes.

Following the drive, some shop owners cleared their dues overnight under pressure. Within 24 hours of the drive at Sreeram Arcade, the civic body recovered around Rs 30–50 lakh in pending property tax. According to sources, surprise inspections will be carried out in several major market areas, including New Market, Burrabazar, and Gariahat Market, too, for recovering long-pending tax.

The civic body aims to recover nearly Rs 5.5 crore in pending property tax from the shopping complexes in the city.

According to KMC sources, the trend of tax default has been increasing in central and northern parts of Kolkata, and the ongoing drive is intended to send a strong message to such defaulters.