BENGALURU: A whopping Rs 36.22 crore is due as arrears to the Bengaluru Development Authority from its tenants spread across its commercial complexes in the city. The chief defaulters are government organisations, who owe nearly half the pending amount.
A senior government official told The New Indian Express that a major crackdown was underway across its four zones to make all the present and past occupants pay up through repeated notices. “Our biggest defaulter is the government. Over Rs 16.15 crore is due as rent from nine government organisations,” he said.
Giving a break-up of the pending arrears as on January 31 this year, he said that the Karnataka Appellate Tribunal was the biggest defaulter with Rs 5.23 crore, followed by the RTOs which owe Rs 2.89 crore.
Among other pending amounts from government agencies are: e-Governance offices Rs 1.57 crore; Central Administrative Tribunal Rs 1.57 crore; Excise Rs 1.22 crore; Karnataka Electricity Board Rs 1.22 crore, Railways Rs 95 lakh, Police Rs 63 lakh and Sub-Registrar Rs 84.48 lakh.
The BDA owns 16 shopping complexes. Six each are in the East and West Division, while three are in the North and one in the South. The East Division, which has 477 shops, has the biggest defaulters who have to pay Rs 29.85 crore, both private and government, of the total Rs 36.22 crore, said another official.
“The big complexes in East Division, like in HSR Layout, Indiranagar vegetable complex and Indiranagar Shopping Complex, Koramangala as well as smaller ones like Domlur and Austin Town figure in it. With plans to rebuild Indiranagar and Austin Town complexes, the occupants have vacated, but their rent is still due. We are repeatedly making efforts to get it,” he said.
The biggest non-government defaulter is Waldel which owes Rs 20.4 lakh. “It was just Rs 12 lakh four years ago but the accumulated arrears have touched this amount now,” a revenue official said. The North Division needs to collect Rs 1.55 crore, the West Rs 2.07 crore and the South, which has only the Banashankari Shopping Complex, Rs 2.75 crore.