Hyderabad: Civic Bodies to Get Tough on Property Tax Defaulters

 Hyderabad: Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) commissioner R.V. Karnan on Monday warned of strict action against property owners who fail to clear their tax dues in the Core Urban Region Economy (CURE) area.

Addressing a press conference, the commissioner said 1,64,807 demand notices had been issued to property tax defaulters in the past 15 days across the area, which covers the Greater Hyderabad, Cyberabad and Malkajgiri municipal corporations.

He said warrant officers had been appointed for each circle in the corporations, and action would be initiated after issuing distress warrants. If required, provisions of the Revenue Recovery (RR) Act would be invoked. The RR Act allows seizure and sale of movable property as well as sale of the defaulter’s land or property.

Of the 28.08 lakh property taxpayers in the CURE area, about 16.80 lakh have paid their property tax so far, the commissioner said. He urged property owners with arrears to utilise the one-time settlement (OTS) scheme, which offers a 90 per cent rebate on interest on pending property tax dues. The scheme will remain in force till March 31.

According to officials, the CURE area has 28,80,260 properties, including 11,45,321 in GHMC, 9,43,432 in CMC and 7,91,507 in MMC.

Property tax collections have also increased in the region. By March 15 in 2024–25, the total collection stood at `1,984 crore, while `2,186 crore has been collected so far in the current financial year.

Officials said that apart from tax payments, services such as property assessment, corrections and related services are available through the MyGHMC mobile application. Property tax can also be paid through MeeSeva centres, the GHMC website (www.ghmc.gov.in), Citizen Service Centres and the MyGHMC app.

With 15 days remaining for the OTS deadline, GHMC has intensified public awareness campaigns across the CURE area to encourage taxpayers to avail the scheme.

Two promotional videos have also been produced for screening in city theatres. Officials said necessary permissions had been obtained from the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC), and the videos will begin screening from Tuesday.

Inforgraphic

           Assessees        Tax netted*           Under OTS

CURE:  28,80,260 -      Rs 2,186 crore --   Rs 322.89 crore

GHMC:  11,45,321 --   Rs 823 crore --      Rs 139.76 crore

CMC:   9,43,432 --        Rs 885 crore --      Rs 111.32 crore

MMC:   7,91,507 --       Rs 478 crore --      Rs 71.81 crore

*Till March 15