Hyderabad: Manikonda flat owners irked over extra tax

Hyderabad: Protesting against the alleged imposition of extra tax along with the fixed amount in the name of the undivided share of land (UDS) by the municipal authorities, irate flat owners in Manikonda have decided to take the matter to court, terming the realisation of additional amount as void ab initio ( to be treated as invalid from the outset).

It is said that the extra tax is being imposed on all the newly formed 68 municipalities that include Manikonda and its adjoining municipalities.

"Immediately after 68 new municipalities came into existence last year, the officials started collecting the tax by including additional charges. We have been protesting against the imposition of extra tax since the beginning, but the authorities concerned ignored our pleas. Therefore, we have decided to explore the legal route to annul the extra burden of tax," informed C Vinod Kumar, a resident of Skyila Apartment, Manikonda. Further, he said that the property tax is 0.25 per sft as per the market value but the officials are charging additional tax of 0.25 per cent in the name of undivided Share of Land (USD), claiming that it is mentioned in the property documents.

"We are facing harassment by the municipal officials, who even during COVID-19 lockdown stepped into our houses pressuring us to recover the property taxes. Without hearing our pleas on the discriminatory mode of additional taxes, the officials just warned of taking stringent actions. The officials are not answering our queries and are only concerned about collecting the entire taxes. Several representations filed under Right to Information Act have gone unanswered," rued Manoj Kumar, a resident of Alkapur Township, Manikonda.

When contacted, the Municipal Manager, Manikonda Municipality, Pavan Kumar, said, "We are collecting the tax as per the Panchayat Taxation Norms and the subsequent instructions." Refuting the allegations about harassment, he added, "Some people are creating unnecessary issues over the matter. If they are having any objection over the taxes, then they could take a legal route to get the issue resolved."