In a remarkable feat, the Mira Bhayandar Municipal Corporation (MBMC) has collected a record-breaking amount of more than ₹102 crore towards property tax in the first four months of the fiscal year 2023-24. The early bird scheme (EBS) rolled out by MBMC’s tax department proved to be a huge hit and played an instrumental role in boosting the collections.
This is evident from the fact that more than 1.89 lakh citizens utilized the early bird opportunity due to which the total collections till July 31, stood at ₹102.16 crore. The collections were limited to just ₹75 crore during the corresponding period in the last fiscal.
Incentive scheme offered discounts
The incentive scheme offered discounts amounting five and three percent for those who opted to clear their property taxes on or before June 30, and on or before July 31 respectively. The EBS ended on July 31, and the MBMC has made it clear that there would be no extension. Ward number four topped the list by collecting ₹36.08 crore, ward number two remained the lowest with ₹4.86 crore. As per official statistics sourced out from the tax department, ₹71 crore was collected from more than 1.37 lakh payers who availed five percent discount till June 30 and the remaining ₹30 crore came from 51,846 citizens who availed three percent discount till July 31.
Digital payment mode sees a surge
Notably, a significant surge was reported in collections through digital modes of payments, including links on the newly upgraded municipal website (pg.mbmc.gov.in) and mobile application (MyMBMC) facilitated by the civic administration. Out of the total collection so far, around 40 percent was received from property owners through digital modes. While ₹40.43 crore was received by 76,351 payers through various online platforms, 1.12 payers contributed ₹61.73 crore by opting payments by cheques, cash and demand drafts. An additional amount of ₹2.49 crore was received from taxes on mobile towers. One of the major revenue generators for the MBMC, property tax collections amounting ₹280 crore has been projected for the current fiscal. The assessed number of properties in the twin city is currently pegged at around 4,00,607 including 64, 618 commercial and 3,35,989 residential units.
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