Pay your tax or lose your property: 81 Bengaluru buildings face auction

Bengaluru: The Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) has announced that 81 properties in north Bengaluru will be auctioned on March 6 after their owners failed to clear pending property tax dues despite repeated notices from the civic body.

According to officials, the auction will take place at 3 pm at the Yelahanka Mini Vidhana Soudha in the presence of the joint commissioners of Zone-1 and Zone-2.

Tax dues exceed ₹1.9 crore

The GBA stated that the properties together have accumulated tax arrears of around ₹1.94 crore. Of the total properties listed for auction, 47 properties in Zone-1 owe approximately ₹1.32 crore in unpaid taxes, while 34 properties in Zone-2 have pending dues of about ₹62.18 lakh.

Officials said the civic body had issued multiple notices to the defaulters before initiating the auction process.

Notices issued to property owners

Under the Property Tax Assessment, Collection and Administration Rules 2024, show-cause notices and demand notices were served to the concerned property owners. Authorities also contacted them through messages, personal visits and notices pasted on the properties.

Officials clarified that any property will be removed from the auction list if the owner clears the outstanding dues before the scheduled auction.

Property owners can also submit objections to the concerned joint commissioner’s office before the auction proceedings begin.

The GBA noted that property tax collected within the corporation limits is used to maintain civic infrastructure and deliver public services across Bengaluru.

Under the Greater Bengaluru Governance Act 2025, property owners are required to pay property tax every year.

Earlier auctions recovered over ₹7 crore

In a similar drive earlier, the civic authority auctioned seven properties across the East and North zones, attracting bids worth more than ₹7 crore to recover pending tax dues.

The GBA has said that nearly 7,000 properties across the city have accumulated property tax arrears totalling around ₹437 crore.

Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar had earlier stated that most tax defaulters are commercial property owners who have not paid taxes for the past seven to eight years. He added that while the government introduced a One Time Settlement (OTS) scheme as a relief measure, strict action would follow if owners failed to clear their dues.