D K Shivakumar, the minister for Bengaluru development and deputy chief minister of Karnataka, fumbled his words on Wednesday when he admitted that when listing his properties, he too had stated “less than the actual” acreage.
“… so, when declaring my properties, I declare less than the actual (area). Such things are there. People like us too are committing a lot of mistakes. All this should be streamlined,” Shivakumar said.
Shivakumar’s remarks came following the launch of a ‘Brand Bengaluru’ website – http://www.brandbengaluru.karnataka.gov.in – meant to gather suggestions from citizens for the betterment of Bengaluru.
Shivakumar stated that many people weren’t paying property taxes in response to a question about increasing revenue for the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP). “They should pay as per built-up area. The self-assessment scheme was introduced (in BBMP). We are analysing whether the scheme is working or not. In some cases, (people) are not even letting us enter buildings (to verify the declarations made in self-assessment scheme),” he said.
Shivakumar stated that the government was using satellite data to map every construction and later acknowledged that he had also underestimated the amount of tax that was due to the BBMP.
Property tax collection has been a big concern for the civic body over the years due to undervalued assets. Property tax revenue grew from Rs 3,033 crore in 2021–2022 to Rs 3,758 crore in 2022–2023 as a whole. For the fiscal year 2023–2024, the goal for revenue collection has increased to Rs 4,412 crore.
Following the adoption of the self-assessment programme, the BBMP examined a number of commercial properties and made the decision to physically confirm the entire area of some buildings in order to compare it to the owners’ assessments. The civic organisation hoped that the activity would boost its revenue.
Shivakumar also alluded to the potential for tax increases, stating that during meetings with various Bengaluru stakeholders, there were requests to do so. According to Shivakumar, some have suggested imposing solid waste levies of Rs. 50 or Rs. 100. In response to an inquiry on the subject, he stated that different practises were used in various states. “Our state hasn’t put some into practise. Many (people) have expressed interest and stated that it is acceptable if you took Rs 100 or Rs 50 as long as rubbish is collected on schedule. This has been proposed by numerous folks,” he stated.
Shivakumar stated that BWSSB’s power bill dues, after discounts, were Rs 99 crore in response to the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) not raising water rates since 2014 and how this has affected its capacity to take on new works for supplying water to Bengaluru.
