Financial year about to end, BMC collects only half of its property tax target

Meanwhile, nearly Rs 9.15 crore of property tax has been procured from government assets. The staff crunch owing to the deployment of a huge number of BMC officials on Lok Sabha election duty has emerged as one of the challenges in collecting the estimated target, for the civic body.

According to senior civic officials, over 200 staffers from the assessment and collection department have been roped in for election duty, thereby affecting the tax collection process.

Meanwhile, this year, the ordinance for the issuance of the bill, which paves the way for collection of property taxes, had also been stuck in limbo, further delaying the collection.

As per officials, the ordinance was cleared by the state governor on February 15.

Property tax is the second largest source of revenue for the BMC with the civic body generating an income of Rs 4994.15 crore from property taxes in financial year 2022- 23.

While the revenue from property tax for FY 2023 – 24 had initially been pegged at Rs 6,000 crore, the target was revised to Rs 4,500 crore in the latest fiscal budget declared early February.

However, having only collected half of its target revenue and the financial year end fast approaching, the BMC has now appealed to citizens to pay the property tax and dues by March 31.