Hyderabad: GHMC begins re-assessment of properties in some areas

Hyderabad: Several property tax payers in the city, including those who had paid up earlier this year, are suddenly getting fresh claims for more tax.

The reason, Deccan Chronicle found, was that the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation had started re-assessment of properties for the purpose of taxation in some parts of the city, deploying bill collectors.

These personnel were charged with measuring the property and revaluating the property tax payable, in case there was a need to do so.

The data with revised rates is being updated in the database, which is resulting in some residents, including those who had paid their property tax earlier this year, getting enhanced tax claims.

Deccan Chronicle had received complaints from residents in Serilingampally, Secunderabad , Kukatpally and Chandanagar circles of the GHMC regarding repeat demands property tax.

Residents of Indiranagar, Gachibowli, in Serilingampally circle complained that, despite paying the annual property tax under the ‘early bird’ scheme that offered five per cent rebate, the GHMC website was showing property tax arrears dues with penal interest. Another complainant said he had received an SMS informing about further dues despite paying the full amount.

The task was taken in the peripheral areas of the city a decade ago and in the core city, which was a part of the erstwhile Municipal Corporation of Hyderabad (MCH), before the formation of GHMC, around three decades ago and has been proceeding in fits and starts.

According to GHMC sources, the corporation had not increased tax slabs. Due to the reassessment of properties, the tax value had increased.

Some of the property tax-related activities that are presently underway in some GHMC circles include identification of additional floors, re-measuring the plinth area, checking whether the property which was once under residential category is now under commercial use, due to some roads being declared as commercial etc.

Sources told Deccan Chronicle that GHMC officials were also checking whether property owners who were paying a nominal amount of Rs 101 per annum as property tax were still eligible to do so, or they were now liable to pay more after raising additional floors. In 2016, the state government had ordered that residential building owners who were paying up to Rs 1,200 could only pay a nominal amount of `101.

“Some people with the help of bill collectors had under-estimated the property value earlier, to avoid paying higher tax. This practice has been on for years, denting the GHMC’s revenue. We are also reassessing such properties,” said a GHMC official.