Mysore/Mysuru: Henceforth, revenue layouts beyond the limits of Mysuru City Corporation (MCC) that enjoy civic amenities like water, electricity, UGD and waste clearance will come under ‘B-Khata’ property tax classification.

A decision to this effect was taken at the MCC Council meeting held at Nalwadi Krishnaraja Wadiyar Hall yesterday in the post-lunch session.

Corporators and the MCC administration unanimously approved the proposal and decided to follow the Bengaluru model where the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has the system of ‘A Register’ and ‘B Register’ (A-Khata and B-Khata) for properties within Bengaluru city limits and for properties beyond the city limits.

In all, 61 revenue layouts will come under MCC tax net and they will be entered in the B-Khata for tax purposes. The Council debated the proposal in detail before taking a decision. In the 61 revenue extensions, there are more than 31,000 properties to which the MCC was providing all civic amenities but is not getting any tax from a majority of property owners. At present, there are over 1.92 lakh taxable properties under the MCC.

The ‘B-Khata’ property tax will be applicable for properties that do not fall under the jurisdiction of MCC. These properties did not pay taxes despite enjoying all civic amenities from MCC. The ‘A-Khata’ and ‘B-Khata’ certify the ownership of a property for tax purposes. While the ‘A-Khata’ lists legal properties, ‘B-Khata’ lists illegal/ semi-legal properties.

While discussing the issue, former Deputy Mayor Shanthakumari said that the residents of revenue layouts were waiting for ‘B-Khata’ classification for 40 years and they were issued ‘Holder Khata’ in the past and many of them were cheated.

“All revenue layouts must be surveyed before implementing  ‘B-Khata’ system and the MCC must not impose heavy taxes. A judicious decision has to be taken in this regard,” she suggested. Shanthakumari was joined by Prema Shankaregowda who demanded that the MCC not to  impose heavy taxes on ‘B-Khata’ holders.

Mafia in Bengaluru

Several Corporators including M.D. Nagaraj, B.V. Manjunath and former Mayor Arif Hussain expressed concern over the mafia prevalent in Bengaluru that converted ‘B-Khata’ to ‘A-Khata’ in connivance with the BBMP officials. “This mafia must not raise its ugly head in Mysuru,” they said. 

Several Corporators noted that though the ‘B-Khata’ is not equivalent to ‘A-Khata’,  it can serve as a temporary solution for activities like sanctioning of civic amenities and can be a document for loan approvals. It is a valid legal document that helps complete a number of legal proceedings. They hoped that once the 61 layouts come under the MCC tax net, property owners will not face any legal and financial issues while transacting with their properties.

Ex-Mayor Ayub Khan, Corporators K.V. Sridhar, S.B.M. Manju, too aired their concern on the issue and demanded that the ‘B-Khata’ must increase the MCC revenues and must also be a convenient system for property tax payment.