The Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) concluded its property tax rebate scheme on December 31, 2024, amassing Rs 836 million from 1,63,813 property owners between July 1 and December 31. The scheme offered a 10% rebate for online payments and 5% for offline payments, incentivising many to clear their dues. However, a significant number of taxpayers missed the opportunity. 

Earlier in the financial year, NMC introduced higher rebates of up to 15% for online payments and 10% for offline payments for dues cleared before June 30, 2024. This earlier phase of the scheme resulted in Rs 768.5 million being collected from 1,58,735 taxpayers. 

With a total of Rs 1.62 billion collected so far this fiscal, 322,000 of the city’s 740,000 property owners have availed of the rebate scheme. However, the remaining 417,000 taxpayers will now face a 2% monthly interest on outstanding dues. 

The highest collection from July 1 to December 31 was recorded in the Nehru Nagar zone, with Rs 108.9 million contributed by 24,526 property owners, followed by the Ashi Nagar zone with Rs 95.1 million and Laxmi Nagar zone with Rs 87.2 million. The Dharampeth zone reported the lowest collection of Rs 47 million from 5,820 taxpayers. 

Despite efforts to promote online payments, traditional methods remain popular. Between April 1 and December 31, only 36.15% of property owners chose online transactions, while around 195,000 taxpayers preferred cash payments. 

NMC now faces the challenge of meeting its ambitious Rs 3.5 billion property tax revenue target for the 2024-25 fiscal. With Rs 1.62 billion collected to date, the civic body must recover Rs 1.87 billion in the remaining three months of the financial year. 

(ET)