Property Tax To Double Under CURE Bill
Property tax is likely to be doubled in all three municipal corporations within the Outer Ring Road under the proposed Core Urban Region (Integrated Governance) Bill, 2026 (CURE Bill), because of a change in the method of property tax assessment.
Hyderabad: Property tax is likely to be doubled in all three municipal corporations within the Outer Ring Road under the proposed Core Urban Region (Integrated Governance) Bill, 2026 (CURE Bill), because of a change in the method of property tax assessment.
According to a draft of the Bill, which was released for public consultation, property tax will be assessed based on capital value, which is determined by the government’s market value used for registration, as against the current annual rental value as at present.
As the current rental value was fixed in the year 2000, the property tax remained frozen for over two decades. When the property tax is assessed based on the capital value, the tax burden on property owners will significantly increase.
The draft Bill, however, offers relief for property owners as the tax hike will be implemented gradually for existing structures. For new structures, the property tax will be determined using the new capital value method, and the hike will be immediate.
The capital value module for property tax assessment is already under implementation in certain civic bodies that were merged with the erstwhile GHMC.
Currently, the property tax for a residential property is determined by this formula: Gross annual rental value (GARV) x Slab Rate minus - 10% depreciation + 8% library cess.
The CURE Bill will replace the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation Act, 1955 — a law that was enacted for Hyderabad with a population of 15 lakh. Now, as the Hyderabad metropolitan region has expanded multifold in area, with a population of 1.3 crore, the government believes that the enabling law must be redrafted afresh.
The draft Bill also prohibits unauthorised transport or dumping of construction and demolition waste. “No person or entity should transport construction and demolition waste within the CURE region without due authorisation or in violation of prescribed routes, timings or conditions which may be made by the commissioner of a corporation within CURE or such other authority as the government may determine in this regard,” the draft Bill stated
For promoting Ease of Doing Business and Infrastructure, the Bill envisages GIS-based street development plans, universal design, and underground utilities. It will also introduce deemed-approval for buildings, decriminalise graded civil penalties, and simplify trade licences for all businesses, including a new night-economy framework.
The draft Bill will align sanitation with the Manual Scavengers Act to ensure that there will be no manual scavenging in the city at any cost.
People will get a single consolidated utility bill for all services.
In terms of administrative structure, the draft Bill proposes the creation of the CURE Apex Governance Council, which will be chaired by the Chief Minister, and an executive committee.
Hyderabad Disaster Response and Asset Protection Agency (HYDRAA) will be the nodal agency for the protection of lakes, drains, public land, and disaster management. Water and sanitation functions will continue to be vested with the Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board.
The draft Bill envisages dedicated authorities for traffic management, climate action, heritage conservation, food safety, gender inclusion, and labour welfare.
CURE SMART Governance Centre will be set up for real-time, multi-agency monitoring and emergency coordination. The CURE region will have an integrated digital portal and an Appellate Authority for speedy grievance redressal.