Property Tax has been waived off for all residences in Hyderabad (GHMC limits) whose tax is less than Rs 4,000.
With less than a month left for the completion of its five-year term, the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation's Standing Committee has decided to waive off the Property Tax of over 10,000 property owners.
The decision was taken in the Standing Committee's meeting held at the GHMC Headquarters on Thursday.
The GHMC's term will come to an end on December 3. Therefore, as a last gift, the committee decided to waive off the Property Tax of nearly 10% of the properties who tax is up to Rs 4,000.
Of 132,259 Property Tax payers, nearly 10,418 pay tax up to Rs 4,000, and they will all gain from this decision.
Speaking to media persons, GHMC Mayor Mohammed Majid Hussain that the GHMC would lose about Rs 100 crores due to this decision. However, this amount would be recovered through Professional Tax, Advertisement Tax and other means.
He informed that the Standing Committee that comprised of MIM and Congress members, passed a unanimous resolution to this effect.
He said that the GHMC Property Tax had almost tripled in the last three years, and in the last year, the corporation collected Rs 1,000 crores. This year, an increase of Rs 300 crores was expected. Therefore, it was decided to pass on some of the benefit to middle-class property owners by waiving off their Property Tax.
However, all of them would need to pay a nominal tax of Rs 10-15 for the continuance of their names in the list of Property Tax payers.
The Mayor said that the GHMC had become the first corporation in the country to waive off Property Tax.
Accompanied by Deputy Mayor G Rajkumar and Congress floor leader Wajid Hussain, he said that the present GHMC had proven wrong an old saying wherein people used to call "Baldiya - Khaya, Piya, Chaldiya" (Municipal Corporation - Eats, Drinks, Goes). The present GHMC had provided subsidised meals for Rs 5 for poor persons and safe drinking water, taken up housing projects, and taken care of civic amenities.
Majid Hussain said that 70 items had been taken up for discussion in Thursday's meeting. The Standing Committee had given the nod for the construction of night shelters for attendants at seven city hospitals at a cost of Rs 2 crores each. They were Maternity Hospital Petla Burj, OGH, NIMS, Gandhi, Niloufer and Koti Maternity Hospital. Rs 2.20 crores had been sanctioned for the construction of a ramp and roads at Moula Ali, and Rs 57.63 crores had been approved for the modernisation of the Jiyaguda slaughter house.
Following the request of the Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi, amenities had been sanctioned for the Ramanasthpur slaughter house, and a housing scheme approved for Syed Ali Bada in Yakutpura.
The Standing Committee had withheld the project to replace existing street lights with LEDs.
These decisions would be presented before the GHMC General Body, which would meet for the last time on November 15. (INN)