Lucknow Municipal Corporation’s revenue for the fiscal year 2023-24 crossed Rs 650 crore mark, the highest ever, for the civic body.
The achievement was driven by a remarkable increase of over 26% in property and house tax collection, soaring from Rs 338 crore to Rs 425 crore compared to the previous fiscal year.
Besides, non-tax revenue that comes from advertisement tax, rent, license, food cart tax was around Rs 225 crore.
As a result, the total revenue of the civic body surged to an impressive Rs 650 crore.
LMC commissioner Inderjit Singh attributed this success primarily to the concerted efforts in increasing tax collection, particularly from commercial properties, including government buildings, educational institutions, businesses, and shops, along with residential areas.
“Leveraging GIS survey data, LMC identified previously untaxed properties and efficiently collected taxes from them, thereby expanding the tax base,” he said.
With approximately 5.6 lakh residential and nearly 80,000 commercial properties, LMC has managed to collect taxes from 62% of residential properties and 73.5% of commercial properties, he shared. To increase tax collection endeavors, commissioner LMC adopted a proactive approach by directly engaging with residents.
Teams were dispatched door-to-door to issue notices, ensuring widespread awareness of tax obligations. Modern communication channels such as SMS and calls were utilized to inform citizens about their tax responsibilities. Those who deposited tax early were given incentives in the forms of discounts.
Despite these achievements, Singh acknowledged a gap in tax collection, amounting to over Rs 100 crore, largely attributed to significant defaulters. Some of the major defaulters include the railways with Rs 73 crore, electricity department with Rs 44 crore, Income Tax department, and Awadh Shilp Gram with Rs 1.4 crore, and the Central Registration Centre with Rs 33 lakh. Singh assured that continued efforts to bring all properties under the tax net without burdening the common man will continue.
“The department will now ask major defaulters to clear their dues,” he said.