Cong corporators allege arbitary fee collection in lease transfer cases, submit memo to Mpl Commr

 

 

 

A delegation of Congress corporators, on Monday met Municipal Commissioner Preeti Yadav and submitted a memorandum, raising serious concerns over alleged arbitrary fee collection in lease transfer cases and tax payment difficulties due to missing financial data from the previous year. In the memorandum, the corporators highlighted that the Jabalpur Municipal Corporation (JMC) has not been following Government guidelines regarding leasehold property transfers, resulting in excessive charges and irregularities.

 

They also stated that many taxpayers are facing difficulties due to the disappearance of past tax records following a software hack in December 2023. Leader of Opposition in JMC, Amrish Mishra said the State Government had issued a notification on February 24, 2016, outlining policies for leasehold properties, which was further amended on May 4, 2021. However, the Municipal Corporation’s Estate Department has failed to implement these guidelines properly, leading to arbitrary fee collection. As per the notification, for property inheritance or legal transfer the prescribed transfer fee is 1 per cent of the premium amount for residential properties and 2 per cent for commercial/industrial properties. However, the JMC is charging four times the prescribed rate 4 and 8 per cent, respectively. In the case of flats, the official fee for name transfer is Rs 5,000 per transaction, but JMC is calculating it based on the flat’s market value, leading to inflated costs. He said transfer fees are being calculated based on the entire built-up area rather than the actual undivided land share, further increasing the financial burden on property owners.

 

The Estate Department is severely understaffed, with pending lease transfer cases accumulating over the years due to shortage of experienced personnel. Mishra said that many taxpayers are unable to view past payments due to missing financial records. He alleged that following a software hack in December 2023, tax receipts from the 2022-23 financial year are not appearing in the system, causing inconvenience to property owners. The 2023-24 assessment data is incomplete, with several newly assessed buildings missing from records. Incorrect taxpayer names are being displayed in cases where ownership has changed, leading to confusion in tax payments. The Congress Corporators have urged the Municipal Commissioner to take immediate action to prevent further inconvenience to citizens and ensure fair municipal governance.