East Delhi Municipal Corporation (EDMC) claims to have collected property tax to the tune of Rs 237 crore for the financial year 2017-18 against Rs 185 crore in the previous year, clocking an increase of 35 per cent. According to a senior official in the tax department, the target was Rs 220 crore for 2017-18. Delhi News
According to an official, this may be the first time when the cash-strapped east municipal agency has crossed its target.
Why this increase?
City Spidey spoke to a couple of senior officials to find out. Most felt measures initiated by EDMC Commissioner Ranvir Singh and other officials in the tax department led to this windfall.
Notices issued through power-supplying companies was one such step. In East Delhi, power is supplied by BSES Yamuna and BSES Rajdhani, EDMC tied up with these power discoms and started sending notices to households in habit of not paying property tax. Every month, on the back of the electricity bill, a note from the EDMC would read: “If your property tax is not paid, your power connection may be cut.”
City Spidey had even reported on the same on March 10.
Amrish Kumar, a senior official in tax department, said, “In January, we tied up with BSES, as it supplies power to most residential colonies in East Delhi. We identified all the offenders and decided to send notices through the bills. By February 15, nearly 10 lakh property tax offenders in East Delhi were issued notices with a clear note that if they do not pay up their property tax, their power connection would be snapped, and they may also come under EDMC’s sealing drive.”
The ongoing sealing drive, too, played a vital role in forcing property owners to pay up dues.
After the collection was over on March 31, Amrish Kumar told City Spidey that the corporation had identified as many as 225 errant property holders in its area and had issued notices to them. Apart from this, around 10 lakh pamphlets were distributed by EDMC’s 123 dengue breeder checkers.
Implementation of the third Municipal Valuation Committee (MVC) recommendations was also a prominent reason behind the increase in tax revenue. The third MVC was constituted according to the Delhi Municipal Corporation (MCD) Act. It recommended upgrading land value of several properties in East Delhi. For instance, the category of land in Mayur Vihar where two malls (Star City Mall and Galleria Mall) and two five stars hotels (Crown Plaza and Holiday Inn) are operating has been upgraded to Category A from C. Properties falling under Category A are mostly commercial establishments and invite higher property tax slabs.
