Punjab govt introduces property self-assessment scheme

Chandigarh, June 14 (UNI) In a significant decision, the Punjab Government has decided to introduce the property self-assessment scheme in all cities and towns of the state.

Disclosing this to mediapersons here today, Local Bodies minister Manoranjan Kalia said that residents or owners will assess the value of their immovable properties and accordingly deposit the house tax with the Municipal Corporations or Committees.

''This scheme is being introduced to eliminate inspector raj and smooth line the house tax collection procedure'', he said. Earlier the inspectors used to assess the value of properties and accordingly the house tax was determined, he added.

Mr Kalia pointed out till March end, the house tax collections by Local Bodies was around Rs 100 crore. An amount of Rs 200 crore was still outstanding and house tax payers had been instructed to deposit their taxes by July 10, as no fine would be charged, he said and added thereafter a fine would be imposed.

Earlier while addressing a meeting of Executive Officers of Municipal Committees, Mr Kalia asked them to raise resources so that more money was avaliable for developmental works. He noted that 83 out of the 129 Municipal Committees were spending more money on establishment than was warranted under norms.

UNI