‘KMC ignoring tribunal orders’

KOLKATA, July 20: The Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) has been accused of not implementing orders of the Municipal Assessment Tribunal. Hence, aggrieved house owners who have won cases in the Municipal Assessment Tribunal (MAT) have sought intervention of the state municipal affairs minister, Mr Asok Bhattacharya. House owners who are not happy with the property tax that is fixed by the civic authorities could appeal before the MAT provided they are ready to pay tax on the disputed amount till disposal of the case. The civic authorities review property tax called general revaluation (GR) in KMC parlance once every six years. Generally, in case of residential buildings that are not rented out there is 10 per cent hike if there is no additional construction or change of use at the time of scrutiny. In case of commercial establishments, in absence of any guideline quite often the hike is arbitrarily effected. Property owners are given a hearing where they can object to the amount fixed by assessment inspectors. If not satisfied with the hearing officer's view, house owners can go to the tribunal. A senior civic official said around 4,000 cases are filed annually of which nearly 1,000 cases are disposed of. It takes four to five years on an average for a case to be fought to completion. The judgement of the tribunal is communicated to the municipal commissioner for necessary action. Aggrieved house owners said on getting the judgement the civic authorities refuse to give effect to the order. A senior civic official said grievances of the house owners are not without basis. Once the civic authorities receive the judgement, they file a review petition before the MAT or an appeal before the Calcutta High Court. “This takes another four to five years to settle the case and causes harassment to the house owners,” the official said. Officials of KMC's revenue department remained tightlipped and refused to comment. A senior official of the municipal affairs department said he was looking into the matter.
Statesman News Service
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