Bengaluru: In a major development for the Bengaluru residents, the Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) has announced its decision to take over properties with chronic tax arrears. It added that the move would only be used as a last resort.
Issuing a statement, GBA Special Commissioner (Revenue) Munish Moudgil pointed out that the step has been taken to address property tax arrears that are long pending in the state. He added that several cases remain unresolved due to the non-payment.
Several cases remained unresolved
“Despite repeated statutory actions—including issuance of demand notices, attachment of properties, and multiple attempts to recover dues through public auction—several cases have remained unresolved due to non-payment and lack of bidder participation in auctions. In such exceptional cases, where all prescribed recovery measures have been exhausted, and auctions have failed repeatedly, the City Corporation will now proceed to purchase the defaulted properties itself at the notified upset price,” the Indian Express quoted him as saying further.
Stressing that the final recovery mechanism is being revoked only after due process, he added, “The property will be deemed sold to the City Corporation at the pre-determined upset price,” he said.
All outstanding dues will be recovered: Authority
He added that all outstanding dues like interest, penalties, and administrative expenses, will be recovered by the authority sale proceeds of the property. He further said that any surplus amount would be refunded to the original property owner.
“Even at this stage, the defaulter is provided a final one-month window to clear all dues (with applicable interest), upon which the takeover order will be withdrawn and the property restored,” he added further, as per the Indian Express.
The latest step has been taken after Bengaluru civic bodies started campaigns to clear property tax dues. In 2024, the government launched the One-Time Settlement scheme to help tax defaulters clear dues.