BENGALURU: Bengaluru NavaNirmana Party (BNP) has slammed BBMP for issuing notices to thousands of flat owners, who recently obtained e-khatas, to pay tax for stilt and parking areas.
It termed BBMP’s action “erroneous and arbitrary” and has been taken without understanding the ownership pattern in apartment complexes and gated communities. The party alleged that the palike’s action contradicts Supreme Court’s judgments and statutory provisions under the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016 (RERA).
The Supreme Court has ruled that open and stilt parking spaces are part of the building’s common areas and cannot be sold or treated as separate units. Further, Section 2(n) of the RERA Act defines stilt and open parking spaces as part of common areas. Hence, these spaces can’t be taxed separately, the party said. In most apartment complexes, sale deeds mention that only flat owners have the “exclusive right to use” their respective designated spaces. Parking spaces are included in common areas, which in turn, are included in the super built up area for which flat owners are already paying tax, said Srikanth Narasimhan, founder of BNP.
By sending notices to pay tax for stilt and open parking spaces separately though it is calculated in the super built up area, BBMP has violated the Supreme Court judgments as well as the RERA Act, said Vishnu Reddy, zonal leader of BNP, Mahadevapura. “We demand that the palike immediately withdraw such notices and align its policies with constitutional and legal mandates,” he added.