GURGAON: The industrial community’s aversion to paying property tax in Gurgaon is well documented. Now, it’s the residents here joining the fray with an awareness campaign titled, ‘Do Not Pay House Tax.’ The argument put forward by both the industrialists and residents against property tax is a straightforward one – no tax collection could be legitimate until the Municipal Corporation of Gurgaon (MCG) legally incorporates these localities under its jurisdiction.

“We have appealed to all residents belonging to builders’ licensed colonies, group housing societies, and HUDA sectors, not to pay the municipal tax, which is being levied without the MCG taking over these colonies,” said a representative of Gurgaon Citizens’ Council (GCC), which has just launched the ‘Do Not Pay House Tax’ campaign here, apart from having earlier filed a writ petition at the Punjab and Haryana high court.

Among the most notorious of problems besetting this city has been the handicap imposed on maintenance and upkeep works by the existing multiplicity of authority. Decades ago, Gurgaon was apportioned along conflicting lines of authority, just as it was developed. Residential areas were built by HUDA, industrial areas by the HSIIDC, and some of the biggest condominiums by private builders, all of whom still retain their hold on these places and still collected annual money under the garb of ‘maintenance charges.’

“Our issue is that if these builders and HUDA are to continue to look after their respective colonies for the next 10 years, which is very likely, then why is the MCG collecting an additional tax amount for no apparent reason. The MCG is not doing any work in these areas,” said R S Rathee, president, GCC.

According to some estimates, there are around 3,00,000 households in the city which are now liable to pay annual property or house tax to the MCG. “Our organization has been trying hard to make it legally viable for the MCG to take over these areas from the builders and HUDA. Only then can this demand be termed legitimate,” he added.

Last month, an industrial association in Udyog Vihar had asked its members to defray the property tax money ‘under protest.’

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/gurgaon/Irked-with-MCG-residents-say-no-to-house-tax/articleshow/27811024.cms