Collection of property tax in South Delhi hit a record high in 2015-16, with the municipality achieving its target for the first time ever.
The South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) had set Rs.650 crore as the target for property tax collection, and on Thursday it announced that the goal had been achieved.
The amount is expected to go up as the SDMC is still processing payments in the last few days of the financial year.
The growth of 19 per cent in property tax collection in 2015-16 is the highest ever. In 2008-09, the unified Municipal Corporation of Delhi had registered a growth of 18 per cent, which was helped by an amnesty scheme and waivers.
The Assessor and Collector, Ram Mohan Singh, said the increase was possible as the SDMC cracked down on commercial users.
“They were paying rates of residential areas, but we sent notices and got them to pay commercial rates, which are four times the residential rates. We managed to increase our taxpayers’ base by 30,000,” said Mr. Singh.
The South Delhi Municipal Corporation issued around two lakh notices, of which about 1.57 lakh were to commercial properties.
At a meeting of the Standing Committee on Thursday, it was decided that the Property Tax Department would get an incentive for their performance. Radhey Shyam Sharma, the chairperson of the Standing Committee, announced Rs.20,000, Rs.15,000, Rs.10,000 and Rs. 5,000 for officials of groups A, B, C, and D respectively.
In 2016-17, the South Delhi Municipal Corporation will focus on expanding its tax base by conducting door-to-door surveys to identify defaulters and giving unique IDs to taxpayers.
