North Delhi Corp tables budget, proposes uniform property tax of 15% in residential areas

The North Delhi Municipal Corporation has proposed to do away with variable rates of property tax. The councillors will have to ratify plan before implementation.

The North Delhi Municipal Corporation on Tuesday proposed to levy a uniform rate of property tax, instead of different levels for various categories. In its budget proposals for 2018-19, the civic body proposed a flat 15% rate of tax for residential properties and 20% for commercial, including industrial, ones.

The suggestions, if implemented, will affect at least eight lakh properties registered with north corporation (Photo: Sourced)

The proposal will have to be ratified by the house of elected councillors and the standing committee before implementation.

Officials clarified that a uniform rate does not mean everyone will have to pay the same tax. The tax will be calculated on the basis of six components — age, area, use, occupancy, structure and base unit area value (BUAV) of the property — which vary for different properties, said Renu Jagdev, additional commissioner, north corporation.

For example, the basic unit area value for a colony in category A such as Rajendra Place is Rs 630, for category B which covers Rouse Avenue (institutional area) and Maurice Nagar, the value is Rs 500.

The suggestions, if implemented, will affect at least eight lakh properties registered with north corporation. Earlier, the category of the property decided the rate of property tax with varied between 7%-11%.

Cap on tax rebates

The commissioner has also recommended reducing the percentage of rebates given to the property owners in various categories.

For example, the 15% rebate given on timely payment of the tax has been proposed to be reduced to 10%.

Other rebates given in various categories such as old age, women and handicap (30%), DDA flats & Group Housing Society (10%), Co-operative Group Housing Society (20%) are also likely to be reduced. “We will ensure that the overall rebate should be capped at 42%, including the 2% for online payment,” said Vyas.

Currently, people may get nearly 70% rebate in tax.

Political parties react

While the BJP, which rules in the north corporation, welcomed the proposals, the opposition led by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) called it an anti-people budget.

The leader of the Opposition in the north corporation house Rakesh Kumar said instead of additional tax, alternative sources for finances should have been looked into.

Standing committee chairman Tilak Raj Kataria said amendments will be made later to suit the requirement of people. “It will be ensured that people living in F, G and H colony won’t be affected much by increase in property tax,” he said.