MUMBAI: The BMC, which struggled to meet its property tax target this year with bills being issued as late as Feb 2024, is owed over 3,000 crore in property tax by at least seven government agencies, revealed a report on government’s outstanding property dues accessed by TOI.
The MMRDA (Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority) tops the list with outstanding dues of Rs 2,042 crore as on April 3, followed by Mhada (Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority) with Rs 246 crore in outstanding dues, central government with Rs 294 crore, and Mumbai Port Authority with Rs 31 crore. Other government agencies with unpaid property taxes include the Railways, the state government, and the police commissioner.
Moreover, given that these are government agencies, the BMC refrained from taking any harsh action, like attaching properties, as seen in other cases. The outstanding dues date back to as early as March 2010, said officials. So far, the civic body’s property tax collection has touched Rs 3,545 crore, which is way behind its set target of Rs 4,500 crore. This year, as bills were issued late, the date of payment for financial year 2024-25 has been pushed to May 25.
When contacted, MMRDA authorities said, “In accordance with Section 45 (2) of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority Act, 1974, property tax is required to be levied at 50% on all properties owned by the authority. Further, the authority, through various official letters to the government as well as the BMC, has informed them that Metro Rail Project and Mono Rail Project come under the Indian Railways Act, 1989, and property tax should be levied on properties of the said project at the rate levied on the properties of Indian Railways. Therefore, for the construction of the said project, the contractor will be given a nominal sum of Rs1/- per sq.m. with the approval of the authority’s committee.”
Officials from BMC’s property tax department, however, said there are no provisions in the Mumbai Municipal Corporation Act of 1888 to levy only 50% property tax. Property tax is one of the largest sources of revenue for the BMC. Of the nine lakh-plus properties, around 3.6 lakh are exempted from property tax as these measure less than 500sqft each. The civic body had set a target of Rs 6,000 crore from 5.9 lakh properties in Mumbai in 2023-24, but had to whittle it down to Rs 4,500 crore.
