NDMC to tax owners of buildings with illegal telecom tower sites

The North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) has stated that the owners of buildings that house illegal telecom towers will be taxed. This comes after the standing committee of NDMC contended that over Rs 1 billion were to be realised as revenue for installation of towers on buildings in its jurisdiction.

The committee noted that there are 2,539 tower sites installed on buildings in its jurisdiction, of which 1,255 sites are illegal. Further, the revenue realised from the legal tower sites was Rs 125.6 million. The committee also noted that the Municipal Corporation of Delhi has not realised any installation fee for towers since 2010, when the case pertaining to one-time hike in installation fee from Rs 100,000 to Rs 150,000 was filed in the Delhi High Court. This has resulted in revenue loss of over Rs 1 billion.