Hyderabad Hospital gets Rs 24 crore penalty for submitting false assessment documents, evading property tax

Hyderabad: Holding a Hyderabad based private hospital guilty of submitting false assessment documents and evade property tax, the Nizampet Municipal Corporation (NMC) has on Monday imposed a penalty of Rs 24 crore.

Even though the Nizampet-based SLG Hospitals was liable to pay Rs 96.1 lakh as property tax, it had only been paying Rs 49.4 lakh until now, adds TOI.

The matter came to light recently when the urban body was inspecting the property tax documents of the Hospital. After conducting a resurvey of the hospital premises, the Municipal Corporation noticed that the Hospital was paying lesser tax than it was originally required on the basis of the actual area of its operation.

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As per the latest media report by the Times of India, the hospital authorities claimed that the total built up space of the facility on a four-acre land parcel was 32,300 square feet. However, the reality was that the hospital's total built of space included two cellars and a G+9 structure above it and the total area was 10 lakh square feet.

The New Indian Express adds that the hospital in reality is spread over 4 acres and the disparity was found by the NMC officials while it was inspecting the facility. 

Therefore, the hospital in reality was liable to pay Rs 96.1 lakh, while it was paying only Rs 49.4 lakh by allegedly submitting the false assessment documents.

As per Telangana Municipal Act, if applicant submits wrong details, it has to pay a fine of 25 times the value of the property. On the basis of this rule, the urban body has issued a notice to the hospital and imposed a fine of Rs 24 crore on the officials.

Medical Dialogues had recently reported that taking action against the defaulters for paying wrong property tax, the Ludhiana Municipal Corporation recently served a notice worth Rs 3 crore to a private hospital in Ludhiana.

Also Read: Wrong Tax Assessment: Ludhiana Municipal Corporation issues Rs 3 Crore notice to Private Hospital