Thiruvananthapuram: House-to-house inspections will be conducted soon to detect constructions and additions carried out in violation of the building rules. The inspections will monitor all constructions done without informing the local self-governments. If the owner of the building informs the local self-government secretary in writing before May 15, no fine will be imposed.
The Local Self Government department has issued an order to complete the inspections before June 30 and to impose additional property tax and fines.
Whether the owner informs or not, the field officers will check the factual details of the buildings and enter the data in the software and fix additional tax with effect from the date of the change that has been made.
Those who have qualifications not below civil engineering diploma, ITI draftsman, and civil and ITI surveyor will be appointed to collect the details and enter the data in the software.
Officials designated by the local self-government secretary will check 10% of the buildings within the local body that have been already inspected. If over 25% of errors are found in the first inspection, all the buildings will be checked again.
A demand notice will be issued to the owner 30 days after the inspection. If the owner has any objection, the secretary should be informed within 15 days. The application has to be submitted online in Form 9D which is available in the Citizen portal. Local bodies will establish help desks to facilitate this.
The order states that decisions should be taken within 30 days by a committee consisting of the president, secretary, and engineer in panchayats and the deputy mayor/vice chairperson, and secretary in urban local bodies.
Lowest fine Rs. 1,000; penalty for not intimating sale of building
The rules stipulate that the local self-government secretary should be intimated in writing within 30 days if there is a change in the plinth area or in the nature of the use of the building after the property tax is fixed. If this has not been done, a fine of Rs. 1,000 or a revised amount of tax, whichever is higher, could be imposed.
If the building is sold, the owner should inform the local body secretary within 15 days. If there is a lapse in this, a fine of Rs. 500 will be imposed. In order to avoid this, the local body secretary could be informed before May 15 through the Citizen portal or directly.
Exemptions
If the extension on the building is a verandah or shed that has not been partitioned with a grill or wall, there would be no additional tax. Roofing of the terrace with sheets or tiles will also not attract tax. If the changes are made after March 31 this year, it will not be included in the tax payable for the year 2022-23.
There is no property tax for buildings having an area of up to 60 square metres. A person will get an exemption for only one such house. There is no exemption for villas. Multi-storey buildings constructed under the LIFE and Punargeham projects will only get the exemption. The application for exemption should be submitted online through Form 9H.
