Site owners pay taxes to both BDA, panchayat

BENGALURU: With lack of coordination between the Urban Development and Rural Development and Panchayat Raj (RDPR) departments, property owners on the outskirts of Bengaluru near Kengeri hobli are forced to pay the property tax to both the Bangalore Development Authority and the local panchayat for no fault of theirs. 

The Soolikere Gram Panchayat in Bengaluru South taluk has many private layouts, each around 2-3 acres and with over 100 residential sites. Sharath Chandra, a property owner, said they purchased the site here in 2019. Like him, many property owners got the khata as well as Property Identity Number (PID) from the panchayat and BDA. 

When another property owner Naveen Kumar wanted to construct a house, the local Panchayat Development Office (PDO) slapped a notice on him for not paying taxes. But Naveen had been paying the tax to BDA. After the Kengeri Metro line started, which is some 3 km from Soolikere Panchayat, the value of properties shot up and many wanted to either construct houses or sell their sites. Only then, they learnt that they were supposed to pay the tax to the Panchayat as well.

A few of them paid taxes to both the authorities just to avoid any complication. Officials at the Soolikere Panchayat said these are private layouts and BDA is just the planning authority. BDA Chairman SR Vishwanath said it has to be checked whether these areas belong to BDA or the panchayat. If these owners write to BDA, the issue can be resolved, he added.