HYDERABAD: The Revenue wing of the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) has intensified efforts to recover Vacant Land Tax (VLT) dues from over 30,000 open plots across the city.
As part of the drive, GHMC will install flex boards on plots with outstanding dues to alert owners and bring them under the tax net. The total VLT dues are estimated at Rs 105-Rs 110 crore.
GHMC is aiming to collect at least 50% of the pending dues — around Rs 50–Rs 60 crore — from vacant landowners in this phase. All zonal commissioners have been directed to supply the boards to Deputy Municipal Commissioners (DMCs), who are expected to place them on the defaulting plots within two weeks.
Around three years ago, the Telangana Inspector General of Registration and Stamps (IGRS) began levying VLT at 0.5% of the registration value at the time of plot registration. Despite this, many of the 31,000 identified plot owners have failed to pay their dues.
GHMC’s IT wing has uploaded the IGRS VLT data into handheld machines (HHMs) used by bill collectors. All 30 GHMC circle DMCs have been instructed to set daily recovery targets for bill collectors (BCs), tax inspectors (TIs) and assistant municipal commissioners (AMCs) and to take strict action against non-performing staff.
Weekly meets on Friday
Bill collectors have been asked to visit vacant plots and pursue owners to pay their dues. Flex boards will be placed on these plots with the message that the VLT was not paid and action would be initiated as per GHMC Act, 1955. Boards will also be placed on unassessed plots to bring them into the tax system. A weekly review meeting will be held every Friday to assess progress.