The response to the property tax collection efforts of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has been slower than expected. After uploading property tax bills in the last week of February, the civic body received around Rs 110 crore till Monday. The target was Rs 4,500 crore from the revenue source in the current financial year, but as the civic body decided to extend the deadline for bill payments to May 25, it is unlikely to be achieved till March end.
After goofing up on property tax bills for the last 11 months, the BMC was finally able to upload the correct bills last Monday, February 26. Till then, the BMC had collected Rs 710 crore, mostly from the pending taxes in the previous years. After the corporation started to upload bills last Monday, it has collected Rs 827 crore till March 4.
Many residents who want to get done with paying the tax, did so without waiting for the deadline. “We haven’t received any printed copies yet, but as the tax was pending I went to the G North ward office to pay it. I didn’t get a copy of my bill even at the ward office as there was a non-working printer, but I received a payment slip,” said a Mahim resident.
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An official from the BMC said that they haven’t analysed which residents are ahead in paying bills. “But it is a good sign that the citizens are starting to pay for it. We are hopeful that revenue will increase this week after people receive their salaries,” he said.
Ambitious target
The BMC had a revenue target of Rs 6,000 crore through the property tax collection in 2023-24 considering a 15 to 20 per cent increase in the tax. But after the strong reactions to the unannounced hike in the last week of December, the BMC immediately withdrew it and set a revised target of R4,500 crore in 2023-24. It took two months to finally upload online bills without any hike.
Every year, the deadline for paying property tax is March 15. But after requests from people’s representatives, the BMC has decided to not levy any fine for payment till May 25. But this means that the civic cannot complete its target till March-end. In budget estimates for 2024-25, the BMC kept ambiguity over the tax hike due to experiences of the past five years.
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