After two years of failing to reach its property tax target, the GHMC finally managed to swing back this year achieving 49.6% of the annual target – close to 1,000 crore. According to official data, till August 2, 2022, the civic body earned 993.88 crore from 9.64 lakh property owners. The corporation has set a target of 2,000 crore for the financial year 2022-23.
Officials credit the early bird scheme for the bulk of its record collection. In April alone it fetched them 741.35 crore with hundreds of taxpayers coming out to avail of the 5% rebate. Zone-wise collections figures showed that Khairatabad made the highest contribution with 259 crore in just four months – 44% of its annual target. Second highest collection was from Serilingampally zone with 216 crore which is 54% of its total target of 393 crore. Charminar zone saw the least collection of 69.64 crore.
Areas like Falaknuma, Chandrayangutta, Charminar, Santoshnagar (under Charminar zone) and RC Puram and Patancheru (under L B Nagar zone), officials said, saw less than 10 crore collected in property tax. “While Old City is densely populated, many of them aren’t registered properties. Also, in many areas the owners of the house do not live in the state or country which affects the compliance rate,” an official said.
GHMC’s one time scheme (OTS) for pending arrears, failed to yield much response. Since it was rolled out in mid-July, the scheme – it offers 90% discount on the interest component of pending property tax – has garnered only 16.09 crore from 10,357 property owners. “The pending arrears were estimated to be 1,800 crore and there seems to be a lukewarm response to OTS. If the GHMC wants to achieve its target of 2,000 crore is should not focus on citizens alone. The civic body must also collect arrears from state and central government institutions that have thousands of crores outstanding. These institutions should also set an example for other citizens so that no one takes the GHMC for granted,” said city-based RTI activist, Robin Zaccheus.
GHMC officials said they are sending SMSes and contacting taxpayers who have pending arrears to create awareness about OTS and ensure it meets its target.