Hyderabad: Residents of Hitec City and other colonies in Cyberabad, including the techies, have been served with inflated property tax bills. The tax wing officials of GHMC have increased the property tax by up to 100 per cent in many cases.
For example, people who were paying Rs 20,000 property tax till the previous financial year, have now been asked to pay Rs 40,000 and even more in some cases.
The reason given is that the tax that was being paid till date was highly under-assessed and the civic body had now properly assessed it as per the prevailing rental values.
Tens and hundreds of residents who have received the tax notices said that they were willing to pay higher taxes but wanted the GHMC to come out with a white paper on the list of infrastructure projects they would be executing in Hitec City and Cyberabad areas in the ensuing financial year and beyond.
Namita Prasad, an expert in legal affairs and adviser to a top software firm said, “The property values in Hitec City have gone up and the GHMC has every right to hike the assessment. But what is its road map to ensure a world-class uptown infrastructure in Hitec City and Cyberabad areas? What controls and programmes do they have to ensure women’s safety, public infrastructure development, maintenance of internal roads, protection of walkers and IT employees against theft and stray animals?” .
The tax wing officials have given 15 days to property owners to file review pleas with local municipal officials if they think the revised tax is on the higher side. Many said this was not enough. “More time is needed as it would be a busy schedule before Christmas and New Year. At least two months time must be given,” said Parthiv Saroj, a resident of Gachibowli.
Srikanth Ramaraju, vice-president of i3 Software, said that he used to pay around Rs 4,600 property tax and now has been asked to pay Rs 6,500. “If the assessment is proper, then we will pay it.
But what is the GHMC doing with the taxes? The street lighting is poor in several lanes and bylanes in Cyberabad. There are hardly any good schools in the vicinity. There are also no engineering colleges in Hitec city,” he said.
N.V. Ratnam Choudary of My Home Navadweepa gated community, who now has to pay Rs 15,600 as property tax from the earlier Rs 7,300, said, “I am willing to pay but the GHMC should put on public domain how much taxes are being collected and how much is being spent on development of infrastructure.” GHMC west zone zonal commissioner Sk Aleem Basha, said that most of the residents, paid their taxes on time.
