Nagpur: Taking a hard stance on the citizens who have rented their residential properties for commercial use, Nagpur Municipal Commissioner Ashwin Mudgal has directed to survey the city and make the list of such properties in all the 10 NMC zones. The action came in the backdrop of recent case of Karamsheel Height on Dr Ambedkar Road near Indora Square where two flats were reportedly being used as a radiology centre. After the issue was raised in the general body meeting, the mayor directed the civic administration to ensure such misused doesn’t happen.
Municipal commissioner Ashwin Mudgal has directed the property tax department to compile a comprehensive data of commercial use of residential properties in all 10 zones.He said no one would be spared for violation of development control rules.
The NMC’s property tax department had already started a survey on unauthorized utilization of residential properties in the city.
It may be mentioned that many residential properties in different localities are being used for running shops, setting up offices, clinics and many other commercial purposes. “As these properties are not registered with the NMC as commercial properties, we are losing revenue,” said a senior official from the NMC’s tax department.
Various commercial establishments, including shops, private nursing homes, and private and government offices have come up on majority of the houses in many parts of the city, he added.
According to NMC records, the city has 5,85,660 taxable properties, including 5,13,835 residential and 71,825 non-residential (or commercial) units. But the number of commercial properties is much more.
The change of use of residential property for commercial purpose is rampant across the city and, many a time, the owners of residential property owners do not register it with the NMC’s tax department.
Commercial usage of residential properties also lead to various other civic problems like lack of parking spaces, sewerage network getting chocked due to pressure etc.
Standing committee chairman Sandip Jadhav said that he will soon be convening a meeting of property tax department to discuss the issue. “Recording the change of use in civic records is important because the property tax for commercial properties is much higher than that for residential properties,” he said
