In a major crackdown against property tax defaulters, the Chandigarh municipal corporation (MC) on Thursday issued attachment notices to 11 commercial and educational institutes, including MCM DAV College in Sector 36, SD College in Sector 32 and KC Mall, Sector 17.

MC commissioner KK Yadav said these 11 institutes owed MC Rs 1.87 crore in property tax. “We were forced to issue sealing notices after they did not clear their tax arrears despite receiving several notices last month,” he said.

“The defaulters have till July 19 to pay their tax arrears, following which MC will attach their properties if the dues are not cleared,” said an official involved in process.

33 more in line

These 11 institutes are among the 44 institutes identified by the corporation so far that owe it Rs 6 crore on account of property tax.

Yadav has ordered the tax branch to send sealing notices to the other 33 institutes in the next few days. A tax branch official said the notices will be dispatched in the next 48 hours, adding that the branch was working overnight to identify other institutes that had not paid tax arrears.

MC action comes in the wake of its huge financial crisis with its dues towards contractors mounting to Rs 40 crore, and several development works getting halted owing to lack of funds. Increase in property tax compliance is among the initiatives it has mooted to increase its internal resources.

The corporation is targeting to achieve tax collection of Rs 50 crore this year. So far, the collection has touched nearly Rs 28 crore. Last year, property tax had fetched the MC Rs 43 crore.

Who are the defaulters

As per the MC list, MCM DAV College owes MC a whopping Rs 55 lakh in property tax. Its college head Nisha Bharghav told HT that this amount pertained to some old tax arrears since 2006. “I joined the institute only in 2015. We are checking our old records and whatever liability is found, will be paid,” she said.

SD College, Sector 32, needs to pay Rs 16 lakh. Principal Bhushan Kumar Sharma said they have paid property tax of all years. “There seems to be some confusion. We will submit the record to MC on Friday,” he said.

Apart from them, KC Mall in Sector 17, Lions Club in Sector 18, Mohyal Bhawan in Sector 24, Shishu Niketan Public School in Sector 43, Shishu Niketan Senior Secondary School in Sector 22, Naam Dev Bhawan in Sector 21, Guru Gobind Singh Bhawan in Sector 15A and Satya Narayan Mandir Dharamshala in Sector 22 are the other defaulters.

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