BANGALORE: It was just last month, we reported on the incident of “drum beating” in front of Sigma Mall, Cunningham Road on December 28, 2011 with a hoarding stating, “arrears in property tax “. This was an initiative by the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) to attract the attention of the defaulters who had not paid tax arrears for five long years.After the drum beat event, individual owners have come out to make arrangements for the necessary payments. Assistant Revenue Officer, Narsappa, BBMP said, “Although the official deadline is March 2012, we are not ensuring strict compliance with that as of now. We have issued showcause notices to the individual owners of the unit holders.With the result, they have now come out in the open and started making part by part payments towards the tax arrears. The fear of stringent actions has also forced them to make efforts to clear the arrears.” Sigma Mall property is registered under IDEB Project Private Ltd and the Khata holder of IDEB has not turned up since 2006, leaving the tax arrears and penalty to accumulate to Rs 5.5 crore. Of the total dues, Rs 3.7 crore is owed by IDEB Project and under whose name the mall is registered who has not paid any amount since 2006.The remaining amount from 2008-11 has not been cleared by the owners of individual unit holders. Narsappa, said, “We are taking separate action against the proprietors of IDEB project for their failure to pay tax for 2006-07.They have been declared defaulters.” When City Express contacted store managers of Sigma Mall on the progress of the situation, Kumar Ram Sarnas, store manager of Pantaloon showroom said, “My superiors are aware of the seriousness and they are making necessary arrangements to deal with the crisis.” Store manager of Levi’s showroom, who refused to be named, said, “The day when the drum beating took place, then only, we came to know about the tax arrears. Till then, we had no knowledge. We had a long discussion with our owner and he is making the payments.”
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