The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has registered a record-breaking property tax collection of Rs 6,378 crore against its revised target of Rs 6,200 crore in the financial year 2024-25. This collection is the highest since 2010, despite the BMC implementing zero property tax on residences up to 500 square feet.
Meanwhile, the civic corporation is also contemplating to reduce fines for the delay in tax payments from 2 per cent to 1 per cent per month.
In the beginning of the financial year, the BMC had set a target to collect Rs 4,950 crore as property tax. The amount was later revised to Rs 6,200 crore. In the previous financial year (2023-24), the total property tax collection amounted to just Rs 3,195 crore till March 31, 2024.
“We focused on the recovery from major defaulters. This played a crucial role in boosting the revenue this year,” said an official from BMC’s Assessment and Collection (A&C) Department. The civic body also collected Rs 178 crore from taxpayers who delayed their payments, incurring a 2 per cent interest charge per month.
The highest revenue — Rs 624.50 crore — has been collected from G-South Ward which covers the Worli and Prabhadevi areas.
This was followed by the K-East Ward, covering Jogeshwari and Andheri (East) areas, which collected Rs 568.56 crore. The H-East Ward (Bandra, Khar and Santacruz East) collected Rs 526.64 crore, followed by K-West Ward (Andheri and Jogeshwari West) at Rs 505 crore.
“The BMC is facing challenges in increasing revenue from property tax as exemption on properties up to 500 square feet has resulted in the loss of Rs 450 crore annually,” the official added.
Furthermore, the revision of the property tax has been pending since 2020. “Legal complexities associated with new methods of property tax calculation further hindered revenue collection for BMC in the 2023-24 financial year,” the official informed.
The Mumbai civic body currently imposes a 2 per cent late fee on delayed property tax payments each month, which adds up to an annual penalty of 24 per cent.
Given this amount can be burdensome for taxpayers, the municipal corporation has submitted a proposal to the state government, requesting a reduction in the late fee by 1 per cent.
Revenue collected over the years
2015-16: Rs 4,847 crore
2016-17: Rs 4,847 crore
2017-18: Rs 5,087 crore
2018-19: Rs 5,040 crore
2019-20: Rs 4,159 crore
2020-21: Rs 5,114 crore
2021-22: Rs 5,791 crore
2022-23: Rs 5,575 crore
2023-24: Rs 4,859 crore
