With less than a fortnight left for the financial year to end, the property tax collection for the three municipalities in the CURE (Core Urban Region Economy) region, still hovers just a little above one-third of the net demand.

Still, it is more than the previous year’s collection for the same region, as per the details shared by the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation’s (GHMC) Commissioner R.V. Karnan on Monday.

Mr. Karnan shared the details at a media conference, and urged the defaulters to utilise the existing One Time Settlement (OTS) scheme to settle property tax dues with 90% waiver on interest accruing on the defaulted amount.

According to a statement, the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation, Cyberabad Municipal Corporation and Malkajgiri Municipal Corporation together have generated a collective demand of ₹8,734 crore towards property tax, of which ₹3,523 crore is interest on the arrears. With 90% of it waived, the net payable amount stands at ₹6,387 crore. The collection up to March 15 stands at ₹2,186 crore, up from the ₹1,984 crore collected for the same region as on the same date of the previous financial year.

Given that 16.08 lakh tax payers of the total 28.08 lakh have already paid the tax, averaging ₹13,011 per head, the remaining minority of 11.28 lakh defaulters have an average due of ₹56,622 per head, which is a substantial amount for the corporations in question.

So far, a little over 2.67 lakh property owners in tri-corporation area have availed themselves of the OTS scheme, and paid ₹323 crore dues, availing the collective waiver of ₹52.08 crore.

The Commissioner has warned that strict action will be taken under the GHMC Act against property owners who fail to clear their long-pending tax dues.

GHMC has facilitated online property tax payments through platforms such as MeeSeva centres, the GHMC website ‘www.ghmc.gov.in’, Citizen Service Centres, and the MyGHMC mobile application, he said.

Apart from tax payments, several services such as property assessment, corrections, and other related services are also available through the MyGHMC application.

The Commissioner stated that awareness campaigns about tax payment are being conducted across the CURE area at the grassroots level. So far, publicity has been carried out through 100 bus shelters across the city. Special awareness videos and audio messages have been prepared and are being widely broadcast through cable news channels, FM radio stations, and social media platforms. Additionally, two special awareness videos have been produced for screening in theatres across the CURE area.