Bengaluru civic body blocks Intel's gate with garbage trucks, seeking property tax dues

The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagar Palike (BBMP) has reportedly given a clear warning to IT giant Intel Technology India Pvt Ltd as part of its special drive to collect due property tax from big commercial companies that default on paying taxes. [caption id=“attachment_557815” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representational image. Reuters[/caption] According to a report by India Today, the BBMP has come up with a very unique method to extract the dues. It has decided to teach the employees of the IT company to love a stinky office if the IT giant fails to pay its taxes. The Intel employees were greeted by a pile of garbage when they reached their office. The BBMP officials had blocked the gates of the firm’s premises in Belandur with trucks filled with garbage, the India Today report added. The Hindu quoted sources as saying that some officials even threatened to dump the garbage inside the office if the company did not pay up property tax dues to the civic body. The standing committee on taxation and finance found that Intel had defaulted tax payment between 2007 and 2008 of around Rs 34 crore. Intel challenged this in court. However, after valid documentation, the BBMP managed to convince the court how Intel defaulted, according to reports. Intel ignored several court warnings to pay half of the due amount by 25 July. India Today quoted the Joint Commissioner of the Mahadevapura zone, BBMP, Muniveerappa as saying that the company had been calculating its taxes on the basis that it was not an air conditioned office, but the reality was that it was centrally air conditioned. He also said that after Intel authorities gave a written undertaking that they would pay half of the dues by 28 August, the garbage trucks were removed from the office gate. Apart from BBMP, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) too has come up with innovative ways to make defaulters pay their dues. According to its recent notice, the BMC will now seize movable property such as computers, furniture, sofas, televisions, refrigerators, air-conditioners and other valuables if they don’t pay up by the due date, reported The Indian Express. It also plans on sealing the lifts, building material and entrance of the building to restrict its usage to recover the property tax due on land, according to the policy.