Gurugram civic body will verify properties again after errors in IDs

GURUGRAM: MCG is re-verifying all property details that were collected in a survey carried out
by a private agency last year — a decision taken after residents alleged their newly
generated property IDs were flawed and inaccurate.
Officials said on Tuesday that 292 field staff from different wings of the corporation will complete
the survey by January 13.
Last year’s survey had concluded that 5.14 lakh properties in areas under MCG’s jurisdiction
should be taxed, an increase from the 3.7 lakh on paper till then. Residents alleged that this
survey was flawed, with several errors in the property IDs.
A five-member committee of zonal taxation officers (ZTOs) and tax inspectors will supervise the
new survey. “ZTO (HQ) shall supervise and monitor progress of the work. He shall depute
sufficient required staff in this regard for the smooth and timely completion of the task; in
proportion to the quantum of work in each zone/area. He shall further provide all logistic
support… Zonal Taxation Officers shall ensure that the above work in their area of jurisdiction is
completed in all respects before 13.01.2023 and shall be responsible for any laxity or
misadventure,” read the order issued by the additional municipal commissioner Rohtash
Bishnoi on Tuesday.
An MCG official told TOI the re-verification process has begun.
The order for re-verification was issued a day after Haryana urban local bodies (ULB) minister
Kamal Gupta directed MCG officials to resolve the residents’ objections, so that they can deposit
their property tax in time.
On Tuesday, residents welcomed the move but said the timeframe to complete the survey was
too short.
“The decision to re-verify the properties is good but they are deploying MCG staff and giving
them a short span of time to complete the survey. We fear that this survey could also have
inaccuracies. Officials should take two to three months to complete the re-verification process
properly,” said Praveen Yadav, convener, United Gurugram RWA.
“Property IDs are linked to no dues portal (NDC) and there are huge anomalies. In some, the
names of the owners are missing and in others, the address is incorrect. The residents who
want to sell or buy properties cannot do so unless they get a no-dues certificate, for which they
have to deposit their property tax dues. For this, corrections need to be made,” added Lalit Suraj
Bhola, secretary, Sector 9A RWA and member of the United Gurugram RWA.
Apart from the details of 5.14 lakh properties to be re-verified, this new survey will cover 92,065
vacant plots and 60,730 ‘denied’ properties. A property is categorised as ‘denied’ when the
owners refuse to give information to the surveyors.