Defaulters Pay Rs 5 Crore To GHMC In 2 Hours

Hyderabad: The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation earned a windfall in property tax collections on Friday earning over Rs 5 crore within two hours.

This is a new record in property collections never seen in any civic authority's jurisdiction in the Telugu-speaking states of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. What triggered the windfall is the announcement from Municipal Administration minister KT Rama Rao, who stated that the civic body will accept the old Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes to help the people clear their tax dues. Following the announcement, people were seen rushing to their nearest GHMC offices to pay their tax dues using the higher denomination notes. Several of them are said to have cleared their previous year arrears too using this opportunity. GHMC officials expect the total collections in tax and arrears to be much higher by the end of the business day on Friday.

The minister had stated that citizens can pay property taxes, water bills and electricity dues by using the old Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes. Also, special counters have been opened at all GHMC offices to enable the people pay the dues, he said and added that the offices will function for extra hours beyond the scheduled time on Friday, he said. All counters of e-Seva and Mee-Seva have been instructed to accept the currency notes for payment of dues from the citizens, Rama Rao said. He also directed the civic officials to suspend regular business on Friday and reallocate staff for the bill collection duty.