For the first time, the property tax collection of the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) crossed the Rs 1,700 crore mark this financial year.
According to the GHMC, the property tax collected up to March 31 was Rs 1,701 crore. During the last financial year in 2019-20, the civic body has generated Rs 1,472 crore and this year’s collection happens to be higher by Rs 229 crore.
As per the tax collection data, out of the 16 lakh plus property tax assesses in the GHMC jurisdiction, 12.20 lakh property owners had paid the tax this fiscal year. In terms of the zone-wise tax collection, Khairtabad zone saw the highest collection of Rs 491.69 crore, followed by Serilingampally zone at Rs 290.28 crore and Kukatpally at Rs 285.84 crore.
To increase property tax collections and ensure that at least the principal amount is cleared along with 10% interest, officials said that the civic body has started OTS (one time settlement) scheme, which offers a 90% rebate on arrears accumulated interest, if the arrears are cleared by the property owners at one go.
The officials also attributed the increase in property tax to the arrangements made by the Corporation for the convenience of property owners to pay the tax at all municipal circle offices, citizen service centres, via online modes, e-Seva centres and also to bill collectors.
“As part of the campaign to encourage people to pay their taxes, we went door-to-door reminding people to pay the tax on time and avoid being penalised and the zonal commissioners of each zone also conducted weekly review meetings with every tax inspector and bill collector of the zone,” a senior official said.
DS Lokesh Kumar, GHMC commissioner, also urged taxpayers to avail OTS before the last date and pay the tax dues on time to avoid penalty.
However, the civic body could not achieve the set target of Rs 1,900 crore this financial year.