Navi Mumbai: NMMC issues notices to 26 large property tax defaulters for seizure or auctioning off their holdings

The Property Tax Department of Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) has issued notices to 26 property holders for seizure or auctioning off their properties as they failed to pay property tax despite being given time and a rebate in interest.

Now, the civic body will recover the tax by selling the property or seizing them. The civic chief Abhijit Bangar has directed to initiate the legal process for seizing or auctioning the properties if they fail to respond to the notice in a stipulated time frame.

Property tax is one of the major sources of revenue of the corporation and due to the outbreak of a pandemic, the civic body requires funds to fight against it. In a meeting held on Tuesday with the property tax department, Bangar directed to stress on recovery to support the fight against COVID 19.

“Property confiscation or auction is not an option for property tax recovery. However, Bangar clarified that legal action will have to be taken if arrears are not paid even after the rebate of penalty under the Abhay Yojana. “There are a number of lawsuits filed against defaulters that are pending for years. It also affects property tax recovery. Therefore, it is necessary to regularly review each of these cases and take concrete steps to resolve them,” said a senior official from the Property tax department. He added civic chief has directed to set up a separate legal cell for the property tax department.

Bangar also directed to start the process to set up a separate cell in the property tax department to ensure that the record check and auction of the property is done within the stipulated time and in a proper manner.

For this purpose, the department will also prepare a list of property tax defaulters in descending order from large arrears to low arrears, giving priority to large arrears, issuing legal notices to them and directing them to take further action.