Taxes on Nariman Point buildings hiked 10-fold

MUMBAI: Nariman Point, India's premier commercial district , is in a state of turmoil. The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has slapped notices on building societies here by increasing their taxes by as much as five to 10 times.

The BMC's assessment and collection department recently hiked what is commonly known as the rateable value in buildings where offices have been given out on leave and licence. The rateable value is fixed on the basis of the rent a particular office space is expected to fetch the owner.

There are close to two dozen buildings in Nariman Point. Some months ago, several societies received notices , informing them that the new rates would be applicable with retrospective effect from April 2008.

The 15-storey Mittal Court is a case in point; the civic administration has hiked its rateable value from Rs 2.86 crore a year to a phenomenal Rs 21.31 crore, an eight-fold increase.

Dalamal Tower, which had earlier approached the Supreme Court against the BMC, was slapped with a revised rate that was over 10 times the previous one. It will now have to shell out Rs 17 crore instead of Rs 1.59 crore a year.

Such is the resentment among societies that many have accused the BMC of trying to kill the leave-and-licence market in Mumbai.