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.