Various Telangana government departments owe the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) property taxes worth more than Rs 5,000 crore, an RTI query by the Forum for Good Governance has found. According to information provided by the GHMC Commissioner in response to a petition under the Right to Information Act, state government properties have pending property taxes due to be paid to the GHMC worth Rs 5,258.40 crore as of April 16, 2022.
Forum for Good Governance has written to the Chief Secretary of Telangana urging the government to clear all pending property taxes, noting that taxes are the GHMC’s main source of revenue and the municipal body hasn’t been able to provide basic civic amenities.
The overdue taxes have been pending for a duration of anywhere between less than a year to 25 years. Apart from state government properties in the city, another Rs 306.28 crore in property taxes is due from properties belonging to state government undertakings, the RTI response revealed. The Health Department has had pending property tax dues of Rs 1,185 crores for 23 years, and the Education Department has Rs 385 crore in dues for 16 years, the letter to the Chief Secretary noted. It also pointed out that the state police owes GHMC Rs 420 crore for roughly 12 years of dues and the Prohibition and Excise Department – which generates annual revenue of about Rs 35,000 crore – owes Rs 895 crore for 21 years of dues.
The letter pointed out that in April 2022, the GHMC’s ‘Early Bird’ scheme for property tax collection saw tremendous response from citizens. Forum for Good Governance added that while citizens regularly pay property taxes to the GHMC, the government is setting a bad example by not paying its due taxes and starving the civic body. It pointed out that revenue to local bodies comes mainly from taxes, and with the government failing to pay its dues, “the GHMC is not able to provide basic civic needs and has become a dummy organisation.”
The letter to the Chief Secretary said that the GHMC Commissioner mentioned that he is regularly pursuing the matter by issuing demand notices, but the heads of various departments are unmoved. It asked the Chief Secretary to issue instructions to all heads of departments to clear their pending property taxes.