Property tax collection under the ‘Early Bird’ scheme has hit an all-time record in GHMC this year, with maximum amount received through online payment modes.
The total collection through all the channels at the end of the working day on Saturday stood at a little over ₹708 crore, which is 30% higher than the collection last year through the scheme. Deadline for payment is up to 12 a.m. on Sunday through online channels.
What’s more, the collection this year was only for the customary one month from April 1 to April 30, while last year, the scheme was extended up to May 31 owing to the situation spawned by the second wave of COVID-19.
When compared with the collection five years ago, the receipts this year through the scheme have clocked a 95% increase.
‘Early Bird’ scheme allows 5% rebate to the property owners who pay the dues within the first month of the financial year.
The jump in collection this year is attributed to the online mutation and assessment system of properties introduced by the State government whereby the mutation fee is collected, and Property Tax Identification Number is assigned at the time of the registration itself, thus ruling out any manual intervention by way of assessments through bill collectors.
Serilingampally unsurprisingly is ahead of all the circles in terms of collection, by bringing ₹88 crore to the civic body’s ailing coffers. It is followed by Jubilee Hills, which has clocked ₹75 crore, and Khairatabad at ₹61 crore.
Chandrayangutta circle has the lowest collection at ₹2.25 crore, preceded by Falaknuma at ₹2.73 crore.
Of the total collection, the highest ₹326 crore was paid through online mode from 4,68,555 assessments, while ₹256 crore was collected by bill collectors through 83,794 assessments. More than ₹78 crore was collected through the GHMC’s Citizen Service Centres, and over ₹48 crore through Mee Seva centres.
