Jalpaiguri, Dec. 30: Residents of Jalpaiguri Composite Complex are in a fix, with both Siliguri-Jalpaiguri Development Authority and Jalpaiguri Municipality demanding tax from them.

Devdas Biswas, secretary of Composite Complex Welfare Committee, said: “On one hand, SJDA is demanding tax from us and on the other, the Jalpaiguri Municipality has served notice on us. We don’t know what to do.” The two bodies should sit together and settle the issue once and for all, he added.

In 1994, SJDA sold the 40-acre land, divided into small plots, to the residents on a 99-year-lease. At the time, it promised to set up an office-cum-shopping complex, bus stand and a playground, none of which has come up yet.

When Jalpaiguri Municipality asked the residents to pay property tax from last April, the residents wrote to the municipality, requesting it to reconsider its decision.

The SJDA, in a notice on November 30, asked the owners of the houses to pay Rs 3,800 by December for water and electricity charges.

“The SJDA said it would impose a penalty of 16 per cent of the amount on us per month if we fail to pay up,” Prasanta Saha, president of the residents association, said.

SJDA and Jalpaiguri Municipality authorities said they had the “legal” right to collect tax from the residents of the complex. Sibapada Bhowmik, chairman of the municipality, said: “The complex comes under the municipal area, so they have to pay the property tax. They will also have to pay for other amenities the municipality provides them with.”

The chief executive officer of SJDA said they would collect taxes because “we are providing them with amenities like street lights and water.”

Biswas said residents had urged both the agencies to meet and sort out the dispute. “We will suffer till they do that.”