BHUBANESWAR: The Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) will digitise record of all holdings within City limits and outsource the process of holding tax assessment, billing and collection (ABC).
The BMC has already floated a request for proposal from agencies working in the ABC vertical. The entire process would ensure compliance with Property Tax rules enacted by the State Government in 2016.
BMC sources said each property under BMC’s jurisdiction would be allotted a seven-digit unique property tax identification PIN (UPTIN) number. The civic body has collaborated with Odisha Space Applications Centre (ORSAC) for a GIS-based mapping of all holdings in Ward 55, in which more than 1,400 houses (holdings) have been geo-tagged.
In the first phase, the UPTIN would be allocated to property in two more Wards which come under Bhubaneswar Town Centre District (BTCD). Work would start in Wards 30 (Sahid Nagar) and 41 (Ashok Nagar) soon. Subsequently, all 65 Wards under BMC would be taken up for replication of the process.
Initially, citizens will have an opportunity for self-declaration of their property including its type and use (commercial or domestic). BMC will scrutinise the declarations on a random basis and if any declaration, is found faulty, then penalty will be imposed, said Additional Commissioner Alok Kar.
Currently, there are over 90,000 holdings under the BMC, but on paper, only 70,000 houses pay tax to the revenue wing of BMC. Depletion of the tax collection squad due to retirement of the members and continuous increase in holdings have added to the Corporation’s tax collection burden.
Sources said satellite-based data and digital assessment may be inaccurate in case of apartments (which appear as a single storey structure in the imageries) and those houses (holdings) surrounded by huge trees. A dedicated team of BMC would be engaged with the outsourced agency to double check such issues, Kar added.