Civic bodies beat drum before houses of 12 property defaulters

The drive was carried out in South Delhi's Sainik farm and Central Delhi's Mall and hotels.

"The defaulters had dues over one crore and they were either not paying the property tax or paying inappropriate tax," an official said.

Several notices were issued to them but those were of no avail. "After beating of drum, further action would be initiated for recovery of the defaulted amount, under which, movable and immovable properties of the defaulters will be attached, in a time-bound way, to recover the dues," he said.

Under Sec 152A of the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act, property defaulters may be handed rigorous imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than three months and may extend up to seven years, and fine of not less than 50 per cent of the amount of tax evasion.

Two of the defaulters, paid an amount of Rs one lakh each and undertook to clear all dues up to January 31.