AAP: BBMP losing Rs 400 crore as shop owners evade tax
According to BBMP there were only 33,986 such units in the city and the revenue collected was just around Rs 34 crore.
Bengaluru: Members of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) alleged that BBMP was being cheated of its rightful share of revenue in the form of trade licence to the tune Rs 400 crore every year.
AAP members alleged that though the city is dotted with lakhs of commercial units, according to BBMP there were only 33,986 such units in the city and the revenue collected was just around Rs 34 crore.
Addressing media persons on Friday, AAP state convener Shivakumar Chengalraya said, "Trade licensing could be one of the major sources of revenue for BBMP. But in reply to our RTI query regarding commercial establishments, we were shocked to know about the figures quoted by BBMP.”
Presenting the first set of documents, Shivakumar said, "According to BBMP there are only 33,986 commercial establishments licensed by the civic body for 2016-17. For the previous year 2015-16, there were 41,075 establishments and their numbers have reduced to 33,986."
When questioned about the fall in number of commercial units, Shivakumar said, "It is highly unbelievable that for a mega city with a population of 1.10 crore to have only 33,896 commercial units. The revenue collected from them was only Rs 30,85,02,955."
He further mentioned that when AAP volunteers checked with Bescom, they found there were six lakh commercial connections. He said this confirmed their doubts.
The AAP volunteers also did a social audit in their areas. While the number of identified commercial units by BBMP were in hundreds in few wards, during our audit, we found them to be in thousands, he said.
On this basis we have estimated that in all 198 wards there are about 4 lakh establishments and based on information provided by BBMP these units pay a tax on average of Rs 9,500 per annum. Thus the loss of revenue from this remaining establishments amount to roughly Rs 400 crore, Mr Shivakumar pointed out.
The AAP leader said this was being done in connivance with local corporators, Taxation Standing Committee Members and the Mayor, who were indirect beneficiaries of this scam. AAP members wanted Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to supersede the civic body and order a judicial inquiry.