The iconic hotels in the national Capital are under the scanner for not paying property tax. Around 11 Five Star hotels including Taj Palace and Claridges are on the defaulter list of the New Delhi Municipal Council with total due amount of Rs320 crore.
The council in its report, which was prepared at the end of the 2016-17 fiscal, has identified these hotels among 166 alleged defaulters, which have dues pending above Rs10 lakh for the last four years.
However, according to the NDMC officials, all the hotels have moved court challenging the tax assessment and any further action by the civic body cannot be taken since the matter is sub judice.
“On the defaulter list are hotels like Taj Palace (Rs42 crore), The leela (Rs18 crore), Claridges (Rs4 crore) among others, the highest being Delhi Golf Club which owes the NDMC Rs700 crore,” a senior NDMC official from the taxation department said.
As per the process, the properties are issued notices to clear the dues. If they fail to do so, the NDMC can attach their assets. However, in this case the matter is in court, the official said.
Meanwhile, the spokespersons at Taj Palace and Claridges denied any pending dues, saying their payments till date have been made.
A Delhi Golf Club official said there was a huge issue with the tax assessment leading to the amount in hundreds of crores. “We have sought a reassessment and the matter is pending in court,” the official said.
Among others, on the defaulter list are Hotel Samrat (Rs31 crore), ITC Maurya Sheraton (Rs2 crore), Ashok Yatri Niwas (Rs10 crore), Janpath (Rs26 crore), Imperial (Rs55 crore), The Park (Rs18 crore) and Hotel Ambassador (Rs12 crore).
While emails sent to other hotels seeking comments did not elicit response immediately, a spokesperson at The leela expressed inability to comment till Monday.
Around 7,000 properties in the NDMC area, including the posh lutyen’s zone, pay tax to the Council. Around 350 of them are high-value properties like hotels, clubs and some Central Government establishments. The civic body collected Rs577 crore as property tax in 2016-17, Rs98 crore higher than last fiscal.