The south Delhi municipal corporation is using every trick in the book to find the total number of properties in its jurisdiction in order to bring all of them under the tax net.
Apart from satellite imaging, seeking data from electricity distribution companies and checking cleared building plans, the civic body may initiate a doorto-door survey to find the total number of properties.
Civic body sources said while the exercise to collect data is on, notices have been served to 1.5 lakh property owners with special focus on commercial establishments. “The property tax for commercial buildings is four times that of domestic property and therefore, it is a bigger source of revenue for the civic body,” said a south corporation official.
According to an estimate by the south Delhi municipal corporation, there are over 16 lakh properties under its jurisdiction although less than 25% pay property tax.
“Merely 3.80 lakh people paid property tax during the last financial year generating a total revenue of ` 546 crore. While we expect to generate more than ` 650 crore in property tax, we plan to find out the total number of properties,” said a senior official.
Officials said of the 12 lakh properties that do not pay property tax also include several government buildings. “A major hole in the revenue is the tax that is due on farmhouses. Further, there are a large number of vacant farmhouses and residences that we are going to tap. We have also made special amendments to collect the property tax from government agencies,” said a senior official.
East and north Delhi municipal corporations had also come up with new measures to identify properties in their area. The corporations had decided to carry out a door-to-door survey, engaging a private agency, and also took help of satellite imaging.
The corporations had also decided to give a unique identification number to the properties and issue passbooks and registration IDs to the property owners, which would contain all information of the property and record of the tax paid.
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