Gaya: Nearly 30,000 unregistered holdings are causing a huge revenue loss to the Gaya Municipal Corporation (GMC). According to official records, there are around 70,000 registered holdings within the GMC area, but the number of holdings with electricity connections exceeds one lakh.While these unauthorised households benefit from civic services such as sanitation and road connectivity provided by the GMC, the civic body receives no revenue from them as no holding tax is collected from these unregistered properties. A sizeable number of these holdings were constructed several years or even decades ago.From the existing 70,000 registered holdings, the GMC realised around Rs 30 crore as municipal tax in the financial year 2025-26. By that calculation, the civic body suffered a revenue loss of more than Rs 12 crore in a single financial year due to the large number of holdings remaining unregistered.Acknowledging the issue, Gaya municipal commissioner Abhishek Palasia conceded the GMC was suffering significant losses because of unauthorised colonies and holdings. He attributed the situation partly to confusion surrounding the process of regularising such properties.Municipal corporation officials said the dilemma in regularising unregistered holdings and colonies stems from two sets of seemingly contradictory guidelines on the issue.In one communication, the urban development department has, for pragmatic reasons, encouraged municipal bodies to regularise unregistered or unapproved holdings and colonies.However, in another notification, the same urban development department has taken a principled stand against illegal constructions and discouraged the regularisation of such structures because of their inherently unlawful nature.The conflicting directives have created uncertainty among civic officials regarding the appropriate course of action.Palasia said he would seek clear guidelines on the issue of registering holdings constructed without following due legal procedures such as obtaining approval of building maps.Activist Syed Shad Alam alias Sullan Bhai said the ambiguity surrounding unregistered holdings was counterproductive and needed to be resolved without delay.“The municipal corporation or the urban development department should either order demolition of illegal structures or regularise them after realising penalty,” Alam said.He added if regularisation is carried out through a penalty route, the municipal body could benefit in more than one way.“On the one hand it will get a substantial amount as a one time penal fee and its regular income too will jump significantly as the newly registered holdings will be paying Municipal taxes on a regular basis,” Alam said.
