Ludhiana: With no satisfactory response from the Greater Ludhiana Area Development Authority (Glada) regarding property tax payments, the civic body here has taken matters into its own hands by tasking its zonal officials with identifying which Glada properties are yet to pay their dues.
However, the task is proving challenging. The zonal officials have expressed concerns over the difficulty of tracking whether certain properties are still under Glada’s ownership or have been sold off. Before the festive season, the municipal corporation (MC) wrote to Glada, pointing out that many properties or vacant lands within MC limits belonged to the development authority. Glada leases, rents out, or allocates many of these temporarily to individuals for fairs or exhibitions. Under Punjab govt’s property tax notification, a tax rate of 7.5% of annual rent applies to all properties rented or leased. Govt institutions must also pay property tax based on self-use for their own properties.
The MC sought clarity on taxes due from financial years 2013-14 to 2025-26 for properties rented or leased out for events such as fairs. However, with Glada not responding to the initial letter, the civic body has now launched its own search. An official, who requested anonymity, emphasised that obtaining a list of properties from Glada would be more reliable, given the possibility that properties might have been auctioned.
The official remarked: “How can we determine which properties still belong to Glada if they have been auctioned? Collecting this information directly from the department would be a better approach. Moreover, if Glada hasn’t cleared the tax for its own office, how can we expect them to provide the civic body with this information?”
MC superintendent Vivek Verma confirmed: “Glada did not respond to our initial letter, so we act now.”