BBMP all set to serve notices to govt. buildings in CBD for recovery of pending dues

The city’s civic body is all set to serve notices for recovery of long-pending service charges for prominent government buildings in the city, including Vidhana Soudha, that houses the State’s Secretariat and has an outstanding of ₹6.3 crore, as per Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike’s (BBMP) data. 

The city’s civic body is all set to serve notices for recovery of long-pending service charges for prominent government buildings in the city, including Vidhana Soudha, that houses the State’s Secretariat and has an outstanding of ₹6.3 crore, as per Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike’s (BBMP) data. 

Data shows that the East Zone alone, that houses most of the State’s key government apparatus, has a total of 257 buildings from 45 different government departments with an outstanding of ₹272 crore, including penalty and interest over pending dues. 

While the BBMP has always maintained that even government buildings have to pay service charges instead of property tax and cesses like private buildings, most government buildings haven’t paid the service charges since 2008, when the BBMP was formed. This has been recorded as dues, compounded with interest and penalty, since then, in the BBMP’s books. The civic body has time and again tried to recover these dues, to no avail till date. 

While Vikasa Soudha has an outstanding of ₹15 crore, Raj Bhavan ₹2.5 crore, High Court of Karnataka ₹13 crore, the Stamps and Registration Department owes ₹14 crore to the civic body. The Education Department tops the list with ₹93 crore in pending dues from nine of its units in the East Zone. The Bangalore Development Authority (BDA), responsible for Bengaluru’s urban planning, has an outstanding of ₹15 crore, and the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), under the Union Government, ₹2.3 crore. 

Breaking down the pending dues, Vidhana Soudha has a principal amount of ₹2.1 crore, with an additional ₹50,400 as Solid Waste Management (SWM) cess. The penalty stands at ₹1,700, while accrued interest is pegged at ₹4.1 crore. Vikasa Soudha has a principal due of ₹5.3 crore, with interest soaring to ₹10.42 crore. 

Snehal R., Zonal Commissioner (East), BBMP, told The Hindu that during the One-Time Settlement (OTS) scheme in 2024, notices were issued to several of these buildings including Vidhana Soudha, Vikasa Soudha, and M.S. Building, but the arrears remained unpaid. “Last week, the BBMP prepared fresh notices, but due to minor rectifications, the process was temporarily halted. However, the civic body will soon issue notices to recover the dues,” she said.

The OTS scheme, aimed at easing financial burdens, had provided significant relief by waiving compounding interest on arrears and reducing penalties by 50%.