In the run up to the budget, the cash-starved GHMC (Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation) is looking at generating more revenue by penalising illegal, notarised and unauthorised structures.
The civic body will soon begin the exercise of sending notices to the occupants of 1.2 lakh structures in the Greater Hyderabad region and ask them to cough up fine.
As per the new guidelines formed by the State Government, those residing in buildings and houses which are not legal can be ordered to pay up to 100% amount of the property tax as penalty every year.
The authorities have decided to uniformly levy the 100% penalty on all the structures. According to the estimates of the officials, Rs 40 crore is the target for the first year.
The GHMC Commissioner B. Janardhan Reddy said that those properties which cannot be razed or easily evicted by the officials will be sent penalty notices in the coming few days.
“The first year, we can only collect penalty for a period of two and half years and not for the entire period the person stayed in the structure.
From the following year, we will collect penalties every year. Though there is an Act, the illegal and unauthorised structures have not been penalised as the ownership claim would come in to the picture since they might claim to have regularised the property.
But through a Government Order, it has been made clear that paying a penalty does not make the structure legal or give ownership rights to the occupants,” said the commissioner.
The officials are also reassessing the properties that were getting exemption from paying property tax since their tax amount was being shown as less than Rs. 1,200.
