VIJAYAWADA: With the current financial year drawing to a close, the Vijayawada Municipal Corporation (VMC) has stepped up efforts to maximise tax revenue.
The civic body has mobilised Rs 189 crore in tax revenue so far, against an ambitious annual target of Rs 265 crore, leaving a sizeable gap to be bridged before year ends on March 31.
The target fixed for the current year is about Rs 24 crore higher than last year, reflecting the corporation’s push to strengthen its revenue base and improve fiscal sustainability.
During the previous financial year, the VMC collected Rs 241.9 crore through various municipal taxes such as property, vacant land, water, sewerage etc taxes, marking a strong improvement over earlier years and encouraging the civic body to aim higher this fiscal.
During the ongoing financial year shows that property tax continues to be the major contributor, with Rs 134.80 crore realised so far. This is followed by Rs 14.27 crore from vacant land tax (VLT), Rs 21.25 crore from water charges, Rs 11.64 crore from sewerage tax, and Rs 7.27 crore from water meter charges.
The VMC officials expect collections to rise significantly in March, which is traditionally the peak period for tax payments. To bridge the gap between collections and the annual target, the VMC has intensified enforcement measures against defaulters.
These include disconnection of water supply, blocking of underground drainage (UGD) connections, and issuance of statutory notices to property owners and vacant land holders with long-pending dues. In several localities, notice boards are being displayed at vacant land sites indicating outstanding tax arrears.
Alongside enforcement, the corporation has stepped up awareness and facilitation measures to encourage voluntary compliance.
Bulk SMS alerts are being sent to taxpayers, while auto-rickshaw canvassing is being carried out across the city to publicise tax payment deadlines and available payment options.
To ease the payment process, the VMC has decided to open special tax collection counters at key locations.
Revenue staff have been instructed to work extended hours, and Sundays in March will also be treated as working days to maximise collections before the close of the financial year.
It should be noted that, Vijayawada city currently has a substantial tax base, comprising 2,22,073 property tax assessments, 14,882 vacant land tax assessments, 1,19,528 water charge assessments, 1,09,771 sewerage charge assessments, and 10,835 water meter charge assessments.
Notably, during the 2024-25 financial year, the corporation earned Rs 189 crore from property tax, and the rest from water tax, sewerage and vlt tax, taking the total tax revenue to Rs 241.9 crore.
This represented a 20 per cent increase over the 2023-24 financial year, when the VMC collected Rs 209 crore, including Rs 169 crore from property tax, with the remaining amount coming from water, vacant land and sewerage taxes.
‘’ This year we have a whopping target of about Rs 264-265 crores, and we are working on to achieve that by this fiscal year ending. Last year, the VMC collected around Rs 241 crore taxes. We have already instructed the staff and officials concerned to intensify the tax collections and also awareness campaigns’’ stated Srujana, Deputy Commissioner (Revenue) Vijayawada Municipal Corporation.