BMC sets property tax target of Rs 537 crore in 10 days

Civic officials check documents of property tax defaulters at Bhiwandi. They also bring band-baja players to embarass defaulters. File pic

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has collected Rs 4,763 crore as property tax till March 21, against its target of Rs 5,300 crore in 2021-22. Of the Rs 4,763 crore, Rs 1,401 crore was collected from South Mumbai, Rs 2,362 crore from the western suburbs and Rs 997 crore from the eastern suburbs. With only ten days left of this financial year, the civic body is again set to miss the target. However, the amount collected has increased compared to last year.

Property tax is the second largest source of income for the corporation, right after the GST compensation from the state government. However, the BMC has not managed to meet its set target for property tax collection for the past six years. With the shortfall, the pending tax amount is increasing with each year and stands at over Rs 20,000 crore.

In the 2020-21 financial year, the BMC had set a target of R6,788 crore, hoping for a revision in the property tax rate, but it remained unchanged due to the COVID-19 pandemic and it managed to collect Rs 4,582 crore.

The original target for property tax collection for the ongoing 2021-22 fiscal was first set at Rs 7,000 crore, which was later revised to Rs 5,300 crore as the state government didn't revise the property tax rate this year either.

The state also waived tax for houses measuring up to 500 sq feet ahead of the civic polls. Till January 23, the assessment and collection department had collected Rs 3,740 crore as tax, and added another Rs 1,000 crore over the past two months.

"We have made a list of top 200 defaulters across the city and started taking action against them. It is already showing results. We are trying hard to achieve the target in the next 10 days," said Vishwas Mote, assistant commissioner of assessment and collection department.