The Haryana Government on March 03, 2021 has issued the Haryana Municipal Corporation (Amendment) Bill, 2021 to further amend the Haryana Municipal Corporation Act, 1994
The following amendments have been made:
• Section 67 (1), which specifies the constitution of one-single joint cadre of that category of corporation services, has been substituted, namely:
“The Government may, by notification constitute, in the prescribed manner, all or any of the categories of Corporation services and notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in any other provision of this Act, once a category of Corporation services has been constituted, all employees of category, who are in service on the date of such constitution or who shall come into the service on any subsequent date, shall constitute one-single joint cadre of that category of Corporation services.
Provided that the Government shall appoint a Corporation Secretary for performing the duties assigned to him under this Act for every Corporation.”
• Section 87 (1) (a), which specifies the property tax different on various parameters, has been substituted, namely:
“a property tax payable by the owner or occupier of a building or land in the municipal area, calculated depending upon the area in which the building or land is situated, its location, purpose for which it is used, its capacity for profitable use, quality of construction and other relevant factors, method of calculation and the rates for application be such, as the Government shall, by notification in the Official Gazette specify. The rates of tax may be different for different types of properties like residential, non-residential, or commercial, industrial, institutional etc. and may be at flat rate or at a graded scale, and in all cases, those shall be the floor rates and the Corporation may increase the rates prospectively at any time by following the due procedure as specified by the Government.”
• Section 87 (3), which specifies the imposition of taxes, has been substituted, namely:
“Save as provided in clause (a) of sub-section (1), the taxes as specified in sub-section (1) and sub-section (2) shall be levied at such rates, as may from time to time be specified by the Government, by notification and shall be assessed and collected in accordance with the provisions of this Act and the bye-laws made thereunder.”
• Section 87 D, which specifies the levy of penalty on unlawful building, has been inserted, namely:
“Whoever unlawfully constructs or reconstructs any building or part of a building:
1. on his land without obtaining permission under this Act or any other law for the time being in force or any rules or bye laws made thereunder or in contravention of any condition attached to such permission.
2. on a site belonging to him which is formed without approval under the relevant applicable law, including rules framed/instructions issued thereunder.
3. on any land belonging to, or leased by the Corporation, the Central Government or Government, or any statutory Board/corporation or organization or company set up by any such Government, in breach of any provisions of this Act or of any other law for the time being in force and the rules and bye-laws made there-under.
shall be liable to pay every year a penalty, which shall be equal to twice the amount of property tax leviable on such building, so long as it remains unlawful construction without prejudice to any proceedings which may be instituted against him in respect of such unlawful construction and the penalty paid under sub-section (1), shall be determined as collected under the provisions of this Act, as if the amount thereof were a property tax due against any such person.”
• Section 87 (E), which specifies the levy of penalty on unlawful use of a building or a land, has been inserted, namely:
“Whoever puts a building or land or a part thereof to any use either in contravention of any law for the time being in force regulating or controlling the use of such building or land or part thereof or in violation of an order or direction, if any, issued under such law, shall be liable to pay a penalty, which shall be equal to two times the amount of property tax that is leviable on such building or land or part thereof, as the case may be, under sub-section (1) of section 87 of this Act for the whole period of such unlawful use on annual basis, calculated construing part of a year as full year and the penalty paid under this sub-section shall be determined as collected under the provisions of this Act, as if the amount thereof were a property tax due against any such person.”
• Section 96A, which specifies the issue of no dues certificate for registration of certain documents, has been inserted, namely:
“A document in respect of sale, transfer, lease, gift or alienation, in any manner, of any lands or buildings, situated in a municipal area, which is required to be registered under section 17 of the Registration Act, 1908 (Central Act 16 of 1908), shall not be registered unless the said document is accompanied with a no dues certificate issued by the Commissioner which shall remain valid for a period of three months or for such other time period, as may be specified by the Government, from time to time, certifying that all municipal dues including rents, taxes, cesses, charges, fees, fines and penalties in respect of such lands and/or buildings as mentioned in the document, payable or recoverable under this Act or the rules, bye-laws or regulations made thereunder, have been fully paid.”
• Section 96B, which specifies the issue of no objection certificate for sanction or release of electricity, water and sewerage connection, has been inserted, namely:
“Any person before making application to concerned authority for sanction/release of electricity, water and sewerage connection to any premises, shall obtain a no dues certificate from concerned municipal corporation and no authority shall sanction/release such connection unless no dues certificate is accompanied with the application.”
• Section 122, which specifies the control and regulation of advertisement in public spaces, has been substituted, namely:
“The Commissioner, or such other authority as specified by the Government, shall control and regulate all advertisements displayed in public spaces and means of transport in the municipal area. They shall for this purpose, identify the suitable spots and sites for displaying advertisement in the municipal area and may, as part of this exercise, invite, by wide publicity, applications from the interested persons for letting out public visual landscape of their premises or vehicles for display of advertisements. The Commissioner or an authority as specified by the Government shall decide all such applications made to him by finalising the identification of spots, sites and vehicles after taking into consideration such relevant factors, which are either specified by the Government or directed in terms of any order of the court of law exercising such jurisdiction or specified under any policy of the Government.”
[Bill No. 03-HLA of 2021]
