To raise Rs 115 crore, BBMP to put extra burden on taxpayer

Netas get a 33% petrol perk of up to 1,000 litres a month

The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) is planning to add to the tax burden of the common man. The civic agency plans to levy two different cesses – infrastructure and urban transport – from April 1, 2016.BBMP commissioner G Kumar Naik has sent a proposal on January 16 to the urban development department seeking the state government’s permission to levy both the cesses.If everything goes according to BBMP’s plans then it will get a boost of Rs 115 crore from levying these two cesses.According to the information available with Bangalore Mirror, the BBMP is expecting around Rs 75 crore from the infrastructure cess and around Rs 40 crore from the urban transport cess.These two cesses will put more burden on the tax payers as they are already paying 24 per cent cess – health 15 per cent; beggary 3 per cent; and library 6 per cent – besides the solid waste management cess depending on the plinth area and whether it is residential or commercial.Although there are provisions in the Karnataka Municipal Act 1976 (section 103 B and 103 C) (read box) empowering the BBMP to collect infrastructure cess and transport cess, and had been mooted in September 2012, it had been turned down by the then BJP-led BBMP council.Bangalore Mirror was the first to report it in a story titled “Coming up: Urban transport cess to pinch your pocket” published on October 1, 2012.Now, the congress-ruled BBMP, too, is not in favour of implementing these two cesses.Congress party leader in the BBMP council RS Satyanarayana told Bangalore Mirror: “We will oppose it. We do not want tax-payers to be put under more burden. We will hold discussions with all the political parties before taking any decision on it.Further, it is still not clear how we are going to collect the cess from the citizens.”He added: “The proposal was mooted by the then (2012) administrator itself and now it is pending before the urban development department. No elected representatives were taken into confidence. We have already discussed the same with Bengaluru development minister KJ George, and he has agreed to hold discussions before clearing the proposal.”But, Commissioner Kumar Naik said the state government is considering to implement the same with immediate effect. The proposal is pending before urban development department, he added.Under section 103B: [Levy of Infrastructure Cess notwithstanding anything contained in section 19 of the Karnataka Motor Vehicles Taxation Act 1957 (Karnataka Act 35 of 1957)] The corporation may in addition to the tax levied under that Act, levy and collect an infrastructure cess, at such rate not exceeding Rs 500 per annum as may be prescribed on every motor vehicle suitable for the use on roads within the city and different rates may be prescribed in respect of different classes of motor vehicles. Under Section 103-C: An urban transport cess shall be levied and collected at such rates not more than two per cent on the property tax levied and collected under Section 103 or 188-A of this Act and which shall be rounded off to the nearest rupee.At a time when increased ministerial expenditures are drilling a bigger hole in the taxpayers’ pocket, netas have gifted themselves another hike: Petrol allowance for the 31 ministers has gone up by 33 per cent.This quantum of hike with regards to petrol allowance is much more than the annual overall increment that most ordinary albeit hardworking professional in Bengaluru would get. Moreover, this hike comes barely 10 months after the ministers gifted themselves a 75 per cent hike in basic salary and other emoluments.Through a notification issued on January 28, the department of personnel and administrative reforms (DPAR) has stated: “Currently, the ministers are being given a petrol allowance equivalent to 750 litres per month. Now, the same has been revised and hiked to an equivalent of Rs 1,000 litres per month.” Given the petrol rate of Rs 63.38 per litre in Bengaluru, the ministers will now be able to claim petrol allowance of Rs 63,380; a 33.33 per cent jump from Rs 47,535 that they were earlier entitled to.Apart from the hike, the government has also extended the `flexibility’ option with regards to claims. A DPAR official explained: “With the price of petrol changing frequently, netas claim they incur losses whenever petrol price goes up after they have applied for reimbursement. To avoid this, we have decided to pay them at the rate of the last petrol price hike that has come into effect and not by the date by which they seek reimbursement.”Understandably, the ministers are elated at the windfall. A senior minister, who did not want to be named, said: “We travel across the state and our petrol bills are always high. We have been making up from our pockets recently. The hike in allowance is a welcome move, it will help us tour more areas across the state and understand the problems of people better.”But not many are enthused. In fact, the hike has taken centre stage in discussions in the corridors of the powerhouse with a section of the bureaucracy questioning the rationale behind it. A senior IAS officer said: “Let it be a hypothetical situation: If a minister’s car were to be giving a mileage of 12 kmpl and if he is being entitled to Rs 63,380 (at the current rate of Rs 63.38 for 1,000 litres per month), he is supposed to clock an average of 12,000 km per month. Now the big question is: Can you think of a minister from Bengaluru travelling 12,000-15,000 km per month? Are they physically fit enough to travel thousands of kilometres by road?”