The Pune civic body is now banking on a special software for real-time data entry to tackle the delay in bringing properties under the tax ambit while reducing the loss of revenue.In order to ensure real-time relay of information, various agencies associated with granting permissions and registration of properties, such as departments of building permissions, property tax and IGR, have been brought under the system, which has been operational for a week now.
The move will help the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) bring properties under the property tax ambit immediately after the grant of an occupancy certificate (OC) or get registered.
“Property tax is levied after the OC is granted. This information is shared manually by the building permission department to the property tax department. The process took months, sometimes even years, causing a delay in adding the properties under the tax ambit,” a senior corporation official said on condition of anonymity.
Civic officials said the administration uses an ‘assessment software’ to store details of properties and tax imposed on them, while the building permissions department uses another software for approval of buildings.
A software – auto-DCR – is used to check documents and process them for granting permission.
An official said an application programme interface (API) is being used to integrate both software.
Activists have welcomed the move but said it must be implemented effectively.
“The initiative will help property buyers as the actual date from which tax is levied can be ascertained. It will also reduce disputes between developers and buyers,” Vijay Kumbhar of the Surajya Sangharsha Samiti, a citizens’ group, said.
Property tax rates are based on the Annual Rateable Value (ARV). The ARV of any land or building accessible to property tax is the annual rent at which the land or building might reasonably be expected to be let out from year to year.As per municipal corporation data, around 11.6 lakh properties in civic limits are entitled to pay property tax. On average, around Rs 1,800 crore to Rs 2,000 crore is collected annually as property tax by the civic body.