Hyderabad: Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) has surpassed all of its records and collected Rs 1701.29 crore in property tax for the financial year 2020-21 that ended on March 31, despite COVID-induced lockdown in place for several months in between, authorities said on Thursday.
The taxes collected were Rs 230 crore more than last year’s collection of Rs 1,472.31 crore. However, it fell short of the target of Rs 1900 crore.
Khairatabad zone has topped the charts with close to Rs 492 crore collections, followed by Serilingampally zone at over Rs 290 crore. Kukatpally zone stood third with around Rs 286 crore, while Secunderabad zone collected a total Rs 260 crore, L.B.Nagar zone, Rs 247 crore and Charminar zone, Rs 127 crore, a statement from GHMC said.
Among circles, Jubilee Hills topped the list with Rs 181 crore collection, followed by Serilingampally at Rs 172 crore. Khairatabad circle stood next with a collection of close to Rs 156 crore. Lowest collection was from Chandrayangutta circle at Rs 9.3 crore.
According to the officials, within the GHMC limits, 16 lakh tax payers of which 12.20 lakh have paid the tax. Those who fail to pay taxes will now be fined 24 per cent of the amount they have to pay.
The increase in property tax payments has been attributed on the One Time Settlement Scheme, which allowed a 90 per cent waiver of interest on property tax on clearing all arrears at once.