The Hindu       22.11.2016  

Rs.30 crore in property tax collected in just 10 days

Property tax collection by the three municipal corporations has
increased by up to five times in the past 10 days compared to the same
period last year, thanks to the withdrawn Rs.500 and Rs.1,000 notes
being accepted for payment.

After the high-denomination notes were
scrapped, the municipal corporations announced that they would accept
the old notes for payment of all taxes and charges, as per the Centre’s
exemption policy till November 24.

From November 11 till now, a total of Rs. 29.47 crore in property tax has been collected by the corporations.

For
the South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC), which has collected
Rs.14.5 crore in property tax and Rs.3 crore in conversion charges from
November 11 till Monday, the collections have gone up five fold.

Last year, from November 8 to 21, the SDMC had collected Rs.2.4 crore. On Monday alone, the SDMC collected about Rs.2 crore.

“In fact, we have added 5,300 new taxpayers to our base in these 10 days,” said an SDMC spokesperson.

The cash-strapped North and East Delhi civic bodies have also seen an increase in their collection.

Best months

The
East Delhi Municipal Corporation, which collected Rs.2 crore from
November 8 to 18 last year, collected Rs.7 crore during the same period
this year. The North Delhi Municipal Corporation collected Rs.7.97 crore
from November 11-20 this year.

According to officials, the
demonetisation effect coupled with the amnesty scheme for defaulters
announced last week may lead to November and December being the best
months for collection.