Advertisement The BMC has issued an attachment notice to Mumbai Metro One Private Limited (MMOPL), which operates the Versova-Andheri Ghatkopar Line,for not paying property taxes worth Rs 300 crore, including penalties. According to civic sources, Mumbai Metro One has not paid any property tax since 2013 and the notices have been issued by the Andheri east and Andheri west wards for Rs 80 crore and Rs 220 crore, respectively.
There are 24 MMOPL properties in both the wards, 16 of which are in Andheri west. Properties like carsheds,workshops, stabling yards, sheds, heavy cleaning tracks and three Metro stations — Versova, D N Nagar and Azad Nagar — fallin the jurisdiction of K west ward.
The MMOPL also possesses two big landparcelsinAndheriwestforwhich property tax has not been submitted. Metro stations like LIC Andheri Metro station, Western Express Highway, JB Nagar, Airport Road, Marol Station and Marol Substation fall in Andheri east ward.
MMOPL operates 11.5 km long metro line between Versova-Andheri-Ghatkopar. This is Mumbai’s first metro line, which has been built on the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model.Industrialist Anil Ambani-owned R-Infra holds a major stake (74%) in MMOPL, while MMRDA holds 26%. Assistant municipal commissioner (evaluation and collection department) Vishwas Mote said notices were stuck outside stations and other properties such as yards, car sheds, store buildings, workshops and electric substations.
“MMOPL claimed that it was not their liability and were passing it on to MMRDA. After studying the matter, we concluded that MMOPL would have to pay the amount,” Mote said. If property tax is not paid by the end of the financial year, the BMC will cut off the water supply, and in extreme cases, the attached properties may be auctioned.