Hyderabad: The government is proposing a hefty “penalty property tax” on unauthorised buildings and those with deviations. The municipal administration department is giving the final touches to the new rule which will be out soon.
The government is planning to levy 100 per cent penalty on the existing property tax if the building is totally unauthorised, 25 per cent if deviation is above 10 per cent, 50 per cent if its over 25 per cent.
“We had the Building Regularisation Scheme and Layout Regularisation Scheme. We have demolished scores of buildings yet unauthorised constructions continue run into lakhs in the city and the rest of the state. This is another move to check unauthorised constructions,” a top official said on Monday.
Citing an example, he said, “If the property tax levied on an unauthorised portion is '1,000, it will be doubled to Rs 2,000. The penalty will be in three or more categories. This is apart from other penal actions including demolition.”
Asked why the government doesn’t make it mandatory for building owners to have insurance cover for buildings to avoid loss to buyer, another official said, “Insur-ance is not mandatory. Secondly, insurance companies insure only those buildings which are legal.”
He said people should purchase property which has clear title and documents, and GHMC and other permissions.
“They can check for permissions with the GHMC circle office and take the help of a legal expert,” the official said.
The government collected a nominal property tax of Rs 101 on those paying property tax of Rs 1,200, but revised it after the polls. The corporation is rationalising property tax of nearly 12 lakh residential buildings in the city, levying residential tax for residences and commercial property tax for commercial ones. It has identified 1.10 lakh commercial property owners who have been paying residential property tax.
