NEW DELHI: Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) has created a portal where zonal inspectors are supposed to submit digital reports daily on the inspections they have done, including data on new taxpayers and properties they have visited.
The move is an effort to boost property tax collection and expand the taxpayer base.
While the data collected will be processed further for generating information and collecting tax, the department will conduct a weekly review of the zonal inspectors based on the report or date submitted online.
“The digital report will provide complete information about the properties. We will also get details of the area where these are located and the kind of issues associated with them leading to non-payment of taxes, etc. Since the report will be digital, in case the zonal inspector is shifted to another zone, the new officer can easily take over the matter and do a follow-up. While the process of fixing responsibility of field staff was done a long time ago, the introduction of the portal will streamline the process further,” an official said.
Out of the 13 lakh (approx.) registered taxpayers, 10.2 lakh have submitted their taxes till date. The civic body claims to have collected Rs 1,781 crore in taxes so far. The collected amount is 16% higher than the collection made last year at this time, officials said.
This year, MCD has set a target of collecting Rs 4,000 crore as property tax. To improve the system’s efficiency, MCD has geo-tagged over 4 lakh properties out of the 13.29 lakh properties that have been assigned Unique Property Identification Code (UPIC) numbers until last month.
Although geo-tagging was initially mandatory for those seeking the benefits of advance tax payment, the condition was later removed. “The process is receiving a tepid response as many are still claiming to be unaware of the process. But we have issued a circular stating that from the next financial year (2025-26), geo-tagging will be mandatory and there will be no exemption,” an official said.
In June, MCD had taken measures to facilitate advance property tax collection for the current financial year. “Our staff conducted more than 800 camps, enabling thousands of taxpayers to pay their advance taxes successfully. During the end of this financial year (March 31, 2025), we will repeat the exercise,” said the official.
In 2023-24, MCD faced a setback in property tax collection with a decrease of 11.5% compared to the previous fiscal. The total amount collected in FY 2023-24 was Rs 2,137 crore, which is Rs 280 crore less than the Rs 2,417 crore collected in FY 2022-23.
The number of taxpayers also declined from 13.29 lakh in 2022-23 to 12.58 lakh in 2023-24. Officials attributed the higher collection in 2022-23 to the Samriddhi scheme, which generated an additional Rs 400 crore in tax revenue. However, the scheme was not repeated in subsequent years and there is no plan for this year too.
