• Source:JND
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BBMP one time settlement scheme: The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) announced that its One-Time Settlement (OTS) Scheme will end on November 30 and urged the property tax defaulters to pay the tax dues by utilising OTS scheme to avoid paying an extra penalty, adding that the deadline for the plan will not be extended further. 

The scheme provides significant relief to the defaulters by cutting compound interest and penalties on due property taxes. The BBMP stated that the defaulters will have to pay legitimate penalties and interest from December 1 onwards, which might inflate their dues amount by three to four times. The BBMP also expressed its disbelief that many of the property owners did not opt for the scheme even though it was available for an extended period of time. 

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The BBMP officials assured that the state government is committed to recovering the dues payment and the civic body might take harsh steps, including mortgaging defaulters' properties and sealing them too. However, the officials said that they wanted to collect the amount with ease, and the OTS was implemented to make the process smooth. The officials also addressed the possible challenges the residents might face with online payments. They stated that the civic body has provided an option to pay the amount manually using a demand draft. 

The civic body has collected approximately Rs 3,761 crore property tax since the beginning of the current financial year and has a target of collecting Rs 5,220 crore by the end of this financial year. The BBMP has collected Rs 3,761 crore as of November 25 and has also collected Rs 50 crore through demand drafts and other forms, the Times of India reported. 

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Tushar Girinath, chief commissioner of BBMP, stated that the civic body had a meeting with all the zonal commissioners in which they discussed the further strategies. "We had a meeting with all the zonal commissioners on Monday and fixed an internal target to achieve our goal by the end of November. If we achieve this target, we can easily collect Rs 5,200 crore by the end of March 2025," Girinath was quoted as saying by Moneycontrol.