Corp plans to outsource property tax collection

The South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) is planning to outsource the job of collection of property tax in private hands in order to generate more revenue. The property tax is one of the main sources of income for the civic bodies.

The proposal in this regard will be tabled in the next standing committee meeting of SDMC. Civic officials are hoping that it will be passed without any opposition.

A senior municipal officer on condition of anonymity said that toll tax collection has grown manifold ever since it was handed over to a private party. ‘Similarly, in case of property tax collection, the corporation is hoping that the revenue would increase drastically. Moreover, the collection of property tax has been consistently decreasing’, said the officer. 

The SDMC has received over Rs 500 crore during the last fiscal as property tax. However, the corporation is worried with the fact that less than 30 per cent of people pay their property tax. For example, there are over 14 lakh properties in the jurisdiction of SDMC, but property tax has been received for only 4 lakh properties.

‘The private contractor will identify such properties/defaulters and recover tax from them’, said the officer.

Meanwhile, the future of hundreds of employees of property tax department is still uncertain. ‘They are permanent employees of the corporation. Their job is safe. They will be accommodated into other departments’, the officer added.

Sources have indicated that the scheme will soon be introduced in other two civic bodies also.

The three corporations are also planning to provide Universal Property Identification Code (UPIC) card, wherein all the properties in the capital will have a unique code so that the defaulters of property tax are easily identified.