Deccan Herald 10.07.2013
Record property tax collection by Palike
For the first time in eight years, the Bruhat
Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has collected a whopping Rs 830 crore
property tax within the first three months of a financial year, largely
due to the five-percent rebate announced by the Congress government.
Buoyed
by the landslide victory in the Assembly elections in May, Chief
Minister Siddaramaiah announced that the five-percent discount would be
extended till the end of June. Usually, the discount is offered only in
April — the beginning of new financial year — so that the BBMP can
implement its budgetary provisions.
The bonanza by the Congress
prompted more property owners to pay the tax, supporting the Palike’s
ailing finances. The BBMP collected Rs 563 crore until May 31 but
property owners rushed to pay the tax in June to avail of the discount.
Thus, the Palike laughed all the way to the bank with Rs 267 crore
property tax collected in June.
period of discount. Such a revenue collection never happened before,”
the BBMP Deputy Commissioner (Revenue), I Ramakanth, said.
In
2012, Ramakanth added, only Rs 670 crore could be collected by July 1.
This year, however, nine lakh property owners, have paid tax. There are
13 lakh properties in the tax net.
Daunting task
The
encouraging collection notwithstanding, the BBMP has a daunting task
ahead. It has to collect Rs 1,800 crore property tax in the current
financial year.
Last year, the Palike could collect only Rs 1,358
crore, largely because of its drum-beating drive before the offices of
major tax defaulters.
As per Palike records, there are 14,14,450 properties in the tax net — an increase of 59,765 in the last one year.
A
source in the Palike said that the Geo Information System (GIS) based
property mapping shows about 16.8 lakh properties in the City.
