Pedda Amberpet residents rue over higher tax rates

Hyderabad: Due to non-bifurcation of commercial and residential buildings by the municipal authorities, the owners of residential buildings in Pedda Amberpet are being forced to pay higher property tax than those staying within the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation limits.

The Pedda Amberpet municipality, which is located just 10 km away from Hyderabad, has an area of 57.32 km with a population of around 50,000. An owner of a residential building having 4,000 square feet built-up area raised on a 450 square yard plot in Mytri Shreepuram under Pedda Amberpet municipality had paid Rs 60,000 towards property tax for the year 2021-22, while for the same size residential buildings in the topmost area like Film Nagar in GHMC, the house owner pays just Rs 20,000 property tax a year.

The property tax for residential buildings in GHMC is lesser than in Pedda Amberpet municipality. The residents here are forced to pay higher tax amounts. In many cases, the municipal officials admitted that the Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) were yet to take up the assessment and finalise the tax amount as per the new Municipal Act-2019, which came into force two years ago.Moreover, the Municipal officials are openly flouting the Telangana Municipal Act in collecting the property tax in municipalities as there is no proper assessment being done by the property tax collectors.