Pending property tax: Chandigarh MC shoots off attachment notices to PU, PGI, PEC & other defaulters

Cracking the whip against property tax defaulters, the cash-strapped Chandigarh municipal corporation has issued attachment notices to several autonomous institutions in the city, including Panjab University, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research and Punjab Engineering College. As per Section 138 of the Punjab Municipal Corporation Act Act, 1994, any sum due on account of tax payable under this Act may be recovered, together with costs of recovery, by the manner prescribed including seizure and sale of the defaulter’s movable property, attachment and sale of immovable property, seizure and sale of goods and vehicles in the case of octori and toll, attachment of lands and buildings, and by suit. Whopping ₹250 crore pending The civic body had started levying property tax annually on government and commercial buildings from November 22, 2004. Why recovery remains a challenge As per MC officials, property tax recovery always remains a challenge as the civic body has only two remedies under tax bylaws – it can either issue notice to defaulters or seal the property if the dues remain unpaid, a provision hard to implement on ground as properties of PU, PGI or PEC would be difficult to be seal.