Nagpur civic body returns properties to defaulters

The Nagpur Municipal Corporation’s (NMC) action against property tax defaulters by auctioning their properties has turned out to be a damp squib. It has returned the properties of around 100 defaulters after the auction process, raising the question mark over the entire process of the civic body’s auction policy which “authorizes the civic chief to return the property and terminate the auction process if the owner pays all the dues and charges within 20 days of the auction”. This has also jeopardized the efforts of successful bidders who have to pay 25% of the auctioned price and participants who have to pay Rs 10,000 each as registration fees. The “faulty” process has led to a simmering disappointment among bidders as they may not take part in any of the NMC’s auction process in future. According to a data provided by the NMC, the process to auction around 200 properties for recovery of property tax arrears completed between November 2017 and March 31, 2018, and out of this, auction of around 110 properties was completed successfully.