North & East MCDs seal fate of 500 properties
With the North and East Delhi Municipal Corporation’s financial condition moving from bad to worse, the corporations have for the first time sealed nearly 500 properties whose owners have failed to pay their conversion charges ever since the Master Plan of Delhi (MPD) 2021 came into force after the 2006 Delhi sealing drive.
Cash-strapped and debt-ridden, the corporations are seeking ways to boost financial status by realising conversion charges. The Master Plan 2021 allows mixed land use and thereby permits commercial activities in residential areas legal (a law which the court has declared invalid) out of judicial purview. All property holders have been asked to pay conversion charges by June 30. As per rules, properties on mixed land use notified roads, which change the use from residential to commercial, are liable to pay conversion charges.
“Buildings of those property owners who haven’t paid their conversion charges after the Master Plan was conceived in 2007 have been sealed. There are nearly 5,000 such properties under NDMC and EDMC combined. This is the first time that sealing is being conducted for not paying conversion charges,” said an official.
There are a total of 42,369 registered commercial properties under the jurisdiction of EDMC, out of which 21,331 paid annual conversion charges for 2013-14 collected in year 2014-15. Forty six property holders have paid the conversion charges just once. While 7,984 properties have already been issued sealing notices, 13,008 will soon be given notices.
In year 2012-13, EDMC received a revenue collection of Rs3,049 lakh and Rs1,843 lakh in 2013-14. Revenue of about Rs1,699 lakh was collected between April 2014 and February 2015. Moreover, a total of 685 building plans were sanctioned in 2014-15 against 1,255 in 2013-14. In NMC, a slew of properties have been sealed since the past two days and work is still in progress. Shops and establishments, which were registered under the jurisdiction of Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) under 24 specified categories, were asked to pay various charges.
Previously, during the 2006 sealing drive, almost all shops had VAT registration and owners were paying income tax through income generated via these shops. Therefore, all shops, which are running from residential areas and were not found on notified roads, were forcibly shut.