Bhubaneswar: Certificate cases will be lodged only against big defaulters of holding tax, the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) here said Sunday afternoon.
Clarifying its stance on the misinterpreted circular issued regarding sealing of houses of the defaulters, BMC Deputy Commissioner (Revenue) Srimanta Mishra said that the taxes pending for over three years would attract legal action in the first phase.
BMC will sue certificate cases as per the provisions envisaged in OPDR (Orissa Public Demands Recovery) Act, 1962, Mishra added.
Also read: Skeletal remains found inside vehicle in Bhubaneswar sent to Hyderabad for skull mapping
No individual house owner will face any legal action under the OPDR Act. The civic body usually lodges certificate cases against big tax defaulters who are unwilling to pay. Legal actions against individual house owners are very rare, Mishra clarified.
The Zonal Deputy Commissioners of BMC have been directed to identify big defaulters and lodge cases, the senior official stated.
“A certificate case usually takes one year or above to be materialised. If a defaulter pays the dues in the meantime, the establishment will not be sealed,” the BMC Deputy Commissioner further expressed.
Notably, some sections of the media had reported that the BMC has directed all Zonal Deputy Commissioners to lodge certificate cases under the OPDR Act against defaulters.
PNN
