Self-assessment drives property tax mop-up in Hyderabad | Hyderabad News

HYDERABAD: The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) saw its biggest jump in property tax self-assessment during the current financial year raising ₹32 crore through it. From 1,014 self-assessments in 2021-22, the number has jumped to 61,888 so far this year and is expected to cross at least 65,000, say officials.
Due to lack of verification mechanism for self-assessments, many complaints are pouring in regarding fraudulent cases. .

According to a reply given by GHMC commissioner D S Lokesh Kumar to BJP corporator Sravan Vurapalli, around 300 duplicate property tax identification numbers (PTINs) have been deleted. Another 112 complaints have been received from citizens, out of which 29 have been found to be fraudulent.
The commissioner said action will be initiated against fraudulent self-assessments based on complaints. “If any specific complaint is received from the citizen on the self-assessment, it will be rectified and action will be taken as per rules,” stated the reply to the BJP leader’s question on how GHMC is regulating improper calculation of property tax.
GHMC’s self-assessment feature was introduced to make property tax payments easier and has also brought in easier means for misuse. Instances of miscreants forging fake property tax documents on properties not owned by them have surfaced in the recent past.
Sources said that there have been instances when people have uploaded a picture of a ‘blank paper’ online when they were supposed to submit a registered sale deed. Apart from this, the self-assessment feature is also being misused to create a fake property tax document which can be submitted for registration of properties, creating fake ID and address proofs like Aadhar card and voter ID.
During the previous GHMC general body meeting in September, additional commissioner (revenue) Shruti Ohja stated that the civic body has put their ‘trust on people’ not to misuse the feature. “By the time a property owner realises that someone else has created a PTIN number for their property and generated a fake document, a lot of damage has already been done. The self-assessment feature is admittedly not a fool-proof one and GHMC should try and improve the technology and keep a verifying mechanism in place,” said civic activist Raj Kumar Singh.