Vidhan Sowdha, Vikas Sowdha, Rajabhavana’s tax not paid

 Property tax pending for more than 10 years; no action to seal: BBMP

Vidhan Sowdha, Vikas Sowdha, Rajabhavana’s tax not paid

Kere Manjunath ಕೆರೆ ಮಂಜುನಾಥ್

Bengaluru: More than one thousand buildings owned by the state and central government, including Raj Bhavan, Vidhan Sowdha, Vikas Sowdha, and multi-storey buildings, have not paid property tax for dozens of years.

Notices were issued to all the buildings during the One Time Relief Scheme (OTS) period. Also, BBMP officials in their respective zones had issued demand notices asking how much property tax should be paid. OTS was due by November 2024. However, none of the buildings have paid property tax so far. 

More than ₹150 crore is pending in property tax from more than one thousand government buildings in the city. However, the corporation has not come forward to seal the buildings and pay property tax. In the current financial year, more than 83 thousand private buildings have been locked and tax has been paid. Post offices were also locked when they did not pay tax.

The notice is old: ‘Notices were issued to central and state government buildings to pay property tax when OTS was in force. The officials of the concerned departments were also told that since there is no interest and penalty, many crores would be saved. However, they have not paid the tax,’ said BBMP Chief Commissioner Tushar Girinath.

When asked by reporters whether government buildings will also be locked to lock private buildings that have not paid tax, Tushar Girinath replied, ‘No, how can that be done? Public buildings cannot be locked.’

Record despite not reaching the target: BBMP has collected more than 17 percent more property tax in the current financial year than the previous financial year, creating a record. However, with only a month left to reach the target for the year, ₹668 crore is still to be collected.

Yelahanka zone is at the top of the property tax collection, achieving 98 per cent. Bommanahalli zone is at the bottom, collecting 78.39 per cent. The remaining six zones have recorded collections of more than 83 per cent.

Compared to last year, Rajarajeshwari Nagar zone has collected 37.97 per cent more tax this year by the end of February. Dasarahalli zone (25.65 per cent), Yelahanka (24.50 per cent) and Western zone (23.95 per cent) are at the next position. Bommanahalli zone has seen a mere 2.12 per cent increase in collection.

Identification of tax-evading properties

Officials estimate that around seven lakh properties in eight zones of BBMP are not paying tax. Against this backdrop, 87,816 properties have been identified in the eight zones, and ₹285.12 crore in tax has been collected.

Demand notices were issued for tax of ₹398.49 crore from 15,731 properties that had been revised (as on 1st April 2024). Out of which ₹122.04 crore tax has been collected from 10,798 properties. 

The revision of property tax is ongoing and as on 1st March 2025, ₹152.26 crore tax is pending from 10,006 properties.

Property Tax Collection (as on 31st March 2025)

Zone;Target (₹ in crores);Collection (₹ in crores);Last year collection (₹ in crores) (as on 31st March 2024);

West;610.39;510.70;412.04

East;891.89;762.02;680.45

South;769.50;657.53;549.07

RR City;434.35;361.93;262.32

Bommanahalli;585.11;458.66;449.13

Dasarahalli;164.95;146.29;116.43

Mahadevpur;1,309.04;1,207.60;1033.92

Yalahanka;445.24;437.01;351.01 

₹231.42 crore tax arrears from 3,81,948 properties

Zone; property; balance

Bommanahalli;63,014;₹54.99 crore

Mahadevpur;89,509;₹49.77 crore

East;50,364;₹35.82 Crore

South;35,659;₹30.04 crore

West;40,237;₹30.04 crore

Rajarajeshwari Nagar;51,994;₹21.77 crore

Dasarahalli; 15,833; ₹13.19 crore