East Delhi civic body rolls back proposal to increase property tax for shops

NEW DELHI: Giving relief to hundreds of shopkeepers in local and commercial shopping complexes, East Delhi Municipal Corporation (EDMC) has decided to roll back the recommendation of the third Municipal Valuation Committee regarding an increase in property tax.

The committee in its report had suggested changing the category of such markets from D to A, which meant the unit area value would have increased from Rs 320 per square metre to 630 per sqm. It had also suggested a change in the commercial factor use from 4 to 6, which would have increased the property tax by almost five times.

“We opposed the increase because neither had there been any change in the status of these shops, nor had any major development work been done in and around them. Also, these are small shops located in open spaces and not in airconditioned malls. Their revenue had also decreased during the pandemic,” the proposal presented in the House meeting by councillors stated.

Bir Singh Panwar, EDMC standing committee chairman, said, “Since properties in other categories supposed to be affected by the implementation of the MVC-III report were given rebates a long time ago and there was almost a 100% decrease in property tax, in this case also we suggested giving relief. The increase in taxes for local and commercial shopping complexes was rolled back. We will continue to charge property tax at the existing rates.”

However, an official said while the deliberative wing had approved the private proposal in the House meeting, the commissioner’s approval was mandatory before its implementation. “The decision for giving relief will be implemented only after the commissioner gives the nod. A notification will be issued in this regard,” added the official.