The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) is likely to seek permission from the State government to collect entertainment tax or a share in the State GST.
During a discussion on the 2018-19 budget on Monday, BBMP Commissioner N. Manjunath Prasad told the council that after the GST regime came into effect, the State government cannot collect entertainment tax. “There are provisions for urban local bodies to collect entertainment tax. ULBs in Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Rajasthan have been empowered to collect entertainment tax,” he said.
He added that the BBMP could also seek a share from the State government from the revenue it garners from motor vehicle tax and stamp duty. “The council could deliberate on these issues and forward its resolution to the State government,” said Mr. Prasad.
Aggressive on property tax
Stating that the BBMP’s major revenue source is property tax, Mr. Prasad conceded that there were over 20,000 pending bills amounting to ₹1,344 crore. “Apart from looking towards other revenue sources, it will also be prudent to have in place rules and regulations on the lines of the Karnataka Fiscal Responsibility Act, 2002, restricting the fiscal deficit for better financial stability and sustainability,” he said.
Last year, the BBMP had collected ₹2,103 crore in property tax; this year (till March 11), the collection stands at ₹2,140. For the first time, the BBMP has identified over 5,000 of its properties. Unique property IDs have been issued to more than 4,900 properties. “We have also begun registering these properties and digitising all property records.”
It will also take up a Total Station Survey of a hundred properties in each of the eight zones. With all these measures, the BBMP hoped to garner at least an additional ₹500 crore.
Listing other forms of revenue earned, the civic commissioner pointed out that service charge to be levied for Union and State government institutions, which had not been collected for years, was collected this year from defence establishments, railways, netro, etc. “We are charging around 25% service charge, and collected ₹12 crore this year,” he said.
Over the last two years, the BBMP has been trying to improve its fiscal health, civic officials noted that its credit rating had increased to ‘A-’ from ‘C’. “We will also be able to take over a couple of properties pledged for loans this year,” the civic commissioner added.
Outlay crosses ₹10k mark
The civic council on Monday approved the revised budget outlay of ₹10,208 crore. The outlay of the 2018-19 budget presented on February 28 was ₹9,325 crore.
According to the revised estimates, the BBMP is hoping to collect ₹5,329 crore from various sources, including property tax, improvement charges, OFC charges and building licence fees. The earlier revenue estimate was ₹4,447 crore.
Opposition Leader Padmanabha Reddy called it an eyewash. “Already, the list of pending works is increasing. A realistic budget would have ensured a cap on this,” he said.
BBMP Commissioner N. Manjunath Prasad countered that the civic body had achieved nearly 75% budget implementation over the past two years when compared to around 40% between 2011-12 and 2014-15.
