East Delhi civic body proposes increase in property tax, new levies

NEW DELHI: To improve revenue generation, East Delhi Municipal Corporation (EDMC) on Friday proposed an increase of 2-3% in property tax on residential and non-residential categories, 5% on government accommodation, 10 times (Rs 5 to Rs 50) increase in fees for sanctioning building plans, among other levies.

Presenting the proposed budget for financial year 2022-23, EDMC commissioner Vikas Anand proposed to increase property tax on residential properties in C, D and E categories from 11% to 13 %, and in F, G and H categories from 7% to 10%. The tax proposed for A–E non-residential categories was 15% of the annual value of the property and 12% for F, G and H categories. A 20% tax was proposed for residential quarters of government companies, autonomous bodies, statutory corporation, etc against the existing 15%.

“Similarly, we have proposed new taxes, such as education cess, betterment and professional tax, some of which are already implemented in other states,” said Anand.

Till November 5, EDMC had collected Rs 112 crore as property tax against a total target of Rs 350 crore. Last year, Rs 209 crore was collected. “We are also emphasising on bringing more properties under the tax net. While UPIC numbers have been issued to 7 lakh dwelling units, we are assessing people liable to pay tax with the help of the councillors. As of now, we have 2.5 lakh regular axpayers. Besides, 1.9 lakh new people have registered on the property tax portal,” said the commissioner.

For combating dust pollution due to illegal dumping of construction and demolition (C&D) waste, EDMC has issued an order for direct disposal/transportation of malba from all construction sites to the C&D waste processing plant at Shastri Park. “While we have reduced the number of sites (from 61 to 17) for dumping waste in small quantities, there is a plan to start online services for collecting waste directly from properties at minimal charges,” Anand said. To get better rankings in Swachh Survekshan 2022, EDMC would be giving maintenance of public toilets (50 to begin with), especially those meant for women, on a PPP basis to private organisations. Faecal sludge management would be done at selected places and the civic body would apply for ODF++
“EDMC will provide a subsidy of Rs 25,000 or 25% of the cost of the machine, whichever is less, to bulk waste generators for processing their waste at source,” said the commissioner. Arrangements for e-waste disposal, scrap collection from houses and developing a technology park at New Jafrabad for treating floating material in drains have also been made