The City Nazim, Syed Mustafa Kamal, during a meeting has asked the city government officials to give priority to solving citizens' problems.
But on the other hand, the decision of the City Nazim to collect property tax with utility bills have made millions of people miserable, who are living in rented premises, as payment of property tax is the sole duty of the property owners and not of the tenants.
If property tax is collected through utility bills, it will add to the miseries of the millions of shelter-less people, who do not own a property and are living in rented properties as tenants.
If the law of collection of property tax through utility bills is imposed, the tenants will have to bear the additional burden of paying property tax to the city government, which will be an unnecessary burden on they whereas they are already paying exorbitant rents to the property owners.
According to the clauses, which are normally discussed and agreed in the tenancy agreements that are signed between the property owners and the tenants, the tenants are liable to pay the agreed amount of rent plus yearly compound inflation on the previous years' rent paid, all utility bills ie telephone, electricity, Sui gas, water, conservancy, fire and other taxes levied by the city government plus monthly maintenance charges of the building, whereas it is the sole responsibility of the owner to pay property tax and income tax on the income earned through monthly rent.
Collection of TV licence fee, with monthly electricity bills was not a problem, either for the owners or for the tenants, as every one has a TV set in the house and who-so-ever possesses a TV set is liable to pay the TV licence fee.
But collection of property tax either with electricity, Sui gas or telephone bills will create disputes between the tenants and the property owners, as adjustment of property tax amount will become a permanent headache for the tenants, as in most of the cases of tenancy agreements a minimum lease/rent agreement of eleven months is signed between the tenant and property owner.
In case a tenant vacates the premises after expiry of the first eleven month of lease period, it will be a responsibility of the property owner to pay the property tax, but in case, if a property owner does not adjust the amount of yearly property tax with the tenant, it will become a point of dispute between the property owner and the tenant and both will enter into litigation, which in turn will pile up with more cases of disputes in the court of law.
I would request the City Nazim to find some other way and means to collect the property tax from the property owners, instead of collecting it with the utility bills from the tenants, which the property owner is liable to pay to the city government, and not the tenants, as this will create a bad image in the minds of millions of tenants about the City Nazim, Councillors and the city Government itself.