Drones to survey properties in industrial areas: MCD official

New Delhi: In a first, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) will take the aerial route to survey properties in the city's industrial areas for tax assessment by using drones to curb tax evasion, officials said. This will help verify details submitted by residents of their properties while paying tax, an MCD official said on Tuesday. The MCD has invited bids to conduct a drone-based survey through an agency for the purpose of tax assessment. The last date to submit a bid is March 16.

This will be the first time that the MCD will be utilising drones to survey properties falling in industrial areas in the national capital. The MCD has decided to use drones after the success of a pilot project last year. On a pilot basis, a survey was carried out in Mohan Cooperative Industrial Area on Mathura Road last year, an MCD official associated with the project told PTI. After the success of the survey there, the civic body has decided to deploy the technology in other areas as well, he said. The survey will help verify the exact use of properties and about the occupants, the area covered and the number of floors. This will also help to ascertain if any construction has been done on the terrace. The survey exercise will be done for about 30,000 properties located in industrial areas like Okhla Industrial Area, the official said. He believes that the number of property units may be increased or decreased to the factor of 20 per cent based on the requirement. The cost of the project will not exceed Rs 3 crore excluding all taxes and statutory dues, the official said, adding the selected firm will be given a six-month time for the survey.

He asserted that drone mapping will help in curbing tax evasion. "We felt the success of the usage of drones in the pilot project. Many discrepancies came forward. We got to know whether the taxpayer is paying money correctly or not."

"The company will first do a drone survey and then a door-to-door survey. It will then compare the data collected with our data. That's how we will know whether the taxpayers are paying tax rightly," the official added. "One of the major sources of revenue in any urban local body is property tax. To increase transparency, effectiveness and efficiency in the administration of property tax, the MCD proposes to use information and communication technology," he said. The main objective of the implementation of drone-based property surveys in Delhi is to create a robust database of the properties along with door-to-door property assessment survey, property mapping and Geographic Information System (GIS)which would ultimately improve revenue collection assessment of properties, the official said.