The ‘Early’Bird’ offer introduced by the GHMC (Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation) to aggressively collect property tax paid rich dividends.

A total of Rs. 365 crore was paid by around 5.15 lakh citizens in the first month of the financial year. In April in the year 2016-17, Rs. 213 crore, more than Rs. 150 crore less than the current year, was collected. Almost two lakh additional payers were seen availing the offer this year when compared to the previous year.

According to the GHMC officials, almost 50% of the total tax payers made the payments in April.

The most preferred mode of payment used was the citizen service centres with a collection of Rs. 100 crore. Through Meeseva, Rs. 40 crore was collected while more than Rs. 100 crore each was deposited as tax through online platforms and bill collectors. On the last day of the ‘Early Bird’ offer, the citizens services counters were open on Sunday because of which Rs. 20 crore was collected as property tax. The number of trade license payers also increased this year. Around Rs. 21 crore was paid as trade license fee without penalty. This year in the first month of the financial year, 12,000 additional traders paid the fee compared to the previous year for April month.