Andhra Pradesh - Vijayawada   

Flat owners oppose penalty collections under BPS

VIJAYAWADA: Flat owners and opponents of the building penalisation scheme (BPS) have strongly objected to the manner in which the Government and the municipal authorities are collecting penalties under the scheme though the issue is before the High Court.

They say that there is an interim order of the court about the BPS, but the authorities continue issuing statements about the progress and collections made under the scheme. It is highly objectionable that the municipal officials are going to the extent of threatening to take action against owners not conforming to the BPS, the flat owners deplore.

Residential and flat owners’ associations have also opposed the BPS, saying that they should not be forced to make payments. “We are not responsible for unauthorised constructions or deviations. If the Government is very particular about revenue, they should find other means,” said a flat owner in Moghalrajapuram.

CPM floor leader Ch. Babu Rao, an outspoken critic of the BPS, has questioned the rationale behind the Government pursuing the BPS scheme. He asserted that there was no legality to the ongoing collections under the BPS, as a question arose before the court whether the Government had a right to implement such a scheme. There was no way property tax could be hiked for those who did not pay penalty, as it had to be settled in the court itself, he added.

Mr. Babu Rao pointed out that there were over 60,000 instances of violations in both individual and apartment categories in the city, but the response to the BPS was obviously poor going by a comparative estimate. He emphatically said that the poor response was an indication that people had rejected this BPS.

At the most, nominal charges should be collected under the name of regularisation after removing the word “penalisation” if the Government was very rigid, he added.

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