Steep property tax hike in Ghaziabad sparks protests

Time of India

3 days ago

GHAZIABAD
: Protests against the civic body's new property tax structure has gained support from RWAs, industry associations and residents' groups.
The revised rates, implemented on April 1, haven't gone down well due to an increase of up to four times the previous rates, which residents claim violates existing municipal laws that allow corporations to increase property taxes once every two years.
The GMC board had last hiked the house tax on 4.28 lakh properties by 10% in Jan 2023. The rates, which were in effect till April 1 this year, required properties along roads less than 12m wide to pay Rs 0.3 per square foot to Rs 1.6 per sqft, those on 12-24m roads to pay Rs 0.5 per sqft to Rs 2 sqft, and properties on wider roads to pay Rs 0.65 per sqft to Rs 2.4 per sqft.
Under the revised tax structure, rates now range from Rs 0.7 to Rs 4 per sqft, which means homeowners may have to pay Rs 5,000 more in taxes annually.
Recently, an industry association, under the banner of
Mahanagar Udyog Vypar Mandal
, staged a protest at GMC's Nayvug Market headquarters against the "steep" hike.
"According to the municipal rules, GMC can hike property tax once every two years. In FY 2023-24, the tax was increased by 10%, and for this financial year, it has been increased again, which is about three to four times higher," Brijmohan Singhal, a representative of the organisation, said.
Sriram Nair, president of Shalimar Garden Extension-2, B-Block, said they have submitted a memorandum to the municipal commissioner stating that the hike in property taxes was not as per the law and urged him to roll it back.
"On average, there will be an annual increase of Rs 4,000 to Rs 5,000 in house tax rate in this fiscal year. The hike has led to discontent among residents. If there is no course correction, GMC should be ready for mass protest," he said.
Former councillor Rajendra Mittal threatened to take the matter to court. "The steep hike will only put an additional financial burden on residents. The GMC Board had earlier mandated a hike of 10% every two years, but now, as one can see, it is about four times the rate of last year. I have documents to support that the new tax slab is not as per the municipal laws, and if it is not taken back, we will have to seek refuge in court," Tyagi said.
Mayor Sunita Dayal, on the other hand, said that they were holding consultations with councillors and GMC officials.
"GMC calculates the tax based on the annual rental value (ARV) of a property. In March, the board passed the proposal to link house tax with DM circle rate, so to say that it is unconstitutional is not true," said a GMC official.
Over the last two fiscal years, the number of properties in the city has gone up from 4.5 lakh to 6.3 lakh. With the revised rate, the house tax is to increase GMC's revenue collection by Rs 60 crore.