Govt body seals 70 shops over property tax dues in Gurugram
The Municipal Corporation of Gurugram on Thursday sealed 70 shops of a building in Sector 74 after the owners reportedly didn't pay property tax. "Despite tax defaulters being issued multiple notices, many have failed to pay up. The sealing serves as a warning before the auctioning," said an official. MCG is expected to auction over 500 properties from August 8.
 The Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) officials sealed 70 shops in Sector 74 on Thursday after the owners failed to clear property tax dues. The MCG has stepped up its sealing drive after announcing that it will auction properties of defaulters from August 8.Apart  from sealing 70 shops, the MCG officials also sealed 40 buildings that were constructed without due permission in New Palam Vihar.?With August 8 nearing, MCG officials are stepping up the sealing drive under Section 130 (manner of recovering tax or fee) of the Haryana Municipal Act, 1994, in order to increase tax recovery. Despite tax defaulters being issued multiple notices, many have failed to pay up. The sealing serves as a warning before the auctioning,? SS Rohilla, spokesperson of MCG, said.The MCG, so far, has sealed 519 buildings in the city, all of which now face the possibility of being auctioned on?August 8.The MCG officials said property owners had the option of availing of rebate schemes to clear tax dues at a discounted rate. After the scheme ended on July 14, property owners will no longer be given any leniency by the MCG and they need to pay their tax by August 31 or face the possibility of their establishments going under the hammer, officials said.Last week, MCG officials made an announcement that 20 buildings are to be auctioned next month after their owners failed to pay tax dues and the civic body sealed the buildings in February.The auctioning process was to start from May 20 but was deferred indefinitely and rebate schemes were introduced to ensure that maximum number of owners got a chance to clear their dues.