While wishing the community a happy New Year in The BPP Review of January 2013, Bombay Parsi Punchayet (BPP) chairman Dinshaw Mehta writes: "Unfortunately I am unable to assure my community members that the year ahead will be one of good cheer or hold great hope for our community’s poor and needy members."
And the reason for this is that "all landlords and owners of residential/commercial premises, including BPP as also the trustees of all our charitable trusts like the N. M. Wadia Charities, Zoroastrian Building Fund, Petit Trusts, Garib Zarthushti Charity Fund and others have received… demand notices [from the Bombay Municipal Corporation (BMC)] based on fresh computation of property taxes based on capital value system of each residential flat of every building, including all structures like our pavilion, club house, refuse shed, mortuary, etc in each of our colonies… The increase in property taxes is being demanded not prospectively but retrospectively with effect from April 1, 2010 up to March 31, 2013." The difference in the taxes for the past three years should be paid by March 31, 2013, as per the notices.
For instance, for Cusrow Baug the total property taxes as per the present rateable value system payable annually, which has already been paid, was Rs 4,61,450 for the past three years. Under the new system of computation, taxes have been recalculated at Rs 9,84,200 per year and the increase per year of Rs 5,22,750 from April 1, 2010 to March 31, 2013, which works out to Rs 15,68,250 is expected to be recovered pro rata from all the residents of the Baug and remitted to the BMC by March 31, Mehta explains. He has also provided the break-up of figures for Rustom Baug and Bai Jerbai Baug.
What effect assessment as per capital value will have on the liability of repairs cess, metered water and sewerage charges is yet to be determined, he adds. Even without the ripple effect of these dues, the tax liability of residential flats has doubled, while it has trebled for commercial premises. The BPP is burdened with the enormous task of calculating the pro rata tax increase and recovery of dues for the last three years. However, "for whatever it is worth, we will be filing appeals against this exorbitant increase of property taxes." Despite this, payments have to be made by March 31, 2013.
Though for the last five years the BPP has refrained from passing on to beneficiaries the costs incurred as a result of two union settlements, being aware of inflationary trends being faced by them, there is no way it can avoid doing so in the matter of the vastly increased property taxes, the chairman explains.