Chandigarh, 5 January 2025: The Chandigarh Municipal Corporation (MC) has issued attachment notices to major property tax defaulters, including Panjab University (PU), the Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), and Punjab Engineering College (PEC), as part of its intensified recovery drive.
The civic body has asked these institutions to declare their movable and immovable assets, warning of legal actions like sealing or selling properties if dues remain unpaid.
“The MC Act allows us to attach and auction properties for pending dues. Notices have been issued, and the process of recovery will be based on asset declarations,” an MC official explained.
₹250 Crore in Pending Dues: Commercial and government properties in the city collectively owe ₹250 crore in property tax and service tax, a critical revenue source for the MC. Of this, ₹187 crore remains tied up in legal disputes.
Notable defaulters include around 650 properties belonging to Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, and central government departments, alongside autonomous institutions like PU, PGIMER, and PEC. The UT administration also owes substantial dues.
Property tax collection, introduced in 2004, has faced persistent challenges, with defaulters often ignoring repeated notices. Even after issuing multiple warnings, recovery efforts in recent months have yielded only ₹2 crore.
Legal Challenges and Financial Strain
Enforcing penalties, such as sealing properties, has been difficult, especially for prominent institutions like PU and PGIMER. “Sealing these properties would disrupt essential public services, complicating recovery measures,” an official said. Meanwhile, efforts to tighten property tax bylaws are underway but remain unapproved.
The MC’s financial troubles have worsened, leading to stalled development projects since May 2024 and creating uncertainty over paying staff salaries. “Without swift recovery of dues, we may face operational paralysis,” admitted an official.
The recent crackdown is a sign of the civic body’s determination to reclaim lost revenue and address its growing fiscal deficit.
