City resident pays 70,000 more tax, struggles for refund

Hyderabad: A property tax payer, Mr M. Srinivas of Kakatiyanagar, Neredmet, accidentally made an excess payment of Rs 70,000 against the current annual property tax of Rs 2,260. 

The civic body, rather than repaying the extra money, has adjusted it for 32 years. As per the GHMC Act, the Corporation can accept the property tax in advance only for one financial year. While the property tax payer has been doing the rounds of the GHMC offices to get a refund, corporation officials have been passing on the buck. 

According to sources, as soon as Mr Srinivas realised he had made a mistake, he rushed to the GHMC headquarters near Tank Bund to get the money refunded, and was shocked to learn that the corporation had already adjusted the excessive amount into 63 installments for 32 years starting from 2019-20. 

Mr Srinivas said he had been saving the money for his daughter’s wedding. He said the online transaction had been made by his son, who mistook Rs 2,260 for Rs 72,260.

An official said the money had been adjusted for future payments but the corporation would refund the amount at the earliest. He said that the refund issue had been taken to the notice of higher authorities who would take a final decision. The official said the property tax website automatically divides the amount based on  payment. 

The norms of advance property tax payments had not been programmed properly. GHMC commissioner M. Dana Kishore said that the issue would be resolved with immediate effect.