CHENNAI: Days after the Greater Chennai Corporation’s (GCC) property tax reassessment left residents confused over the surge in their bills, a similar exercise in neighbouring Tambaram Corporation has triggered backlash, with a section of residents alleging that the revised rates have led to multi-fold increases and, in some cases, now exceed those charged in premium GCC areas.
Residents’ welfare associations, social activists and individual property owners have lodged a series of complaints with the Tambaram civic body, alleging that rates were revised without proper consultation and, in some cases, without prior notice.
Unlike GCC, where senior officials acknowledged that a reassessment drive was undertaken to improve tax collection, Tambaram Corporation officials did not acknowledge a similar exercise when contacted by TNIE, saying they were examining complaints on a ‘case-by-case’ basis. They also did not elaborate on what basis the reassessment was done.
Officials, however, said they have received at least a hundred complaints, which are now being examined. Tambaram commissioner S Balachander told TNIE, “It is possible that the property may have been under-assessed or that there may have been some misunderstanding. The complaints will be analysed, and the matter will be redressed shortly.”
Dayanand Krishnan, president of the Pradeep and Karthik Avenue Residents Welfare Association in Chitlapakkam, set Tambaram Corporation’s basic street rates against GCC’s in his complaint and found Chitlapakkam and Sembakkam came out significantly higher.
His study found a 1,500 sq ft residential property on Boat Club Road would draw around Rs 16,250 a year in property tax, against roughly Rs 23,238 for a comparable property on Babu Street in Chitlapakkam. The government has since forwarded his petition to the Tambaram commissioner for action.
A separate complaint from the United Federation of Residents Welfare Associations of Tambaram Corporation raises similar concerns. Founder-president Govindarajan said the half-yearly property tax on a 468-sq-ft commercial property climbed from Rs 3,000 in 2024-25 to Rs 11,725 in 2025-26, while the solid waste user charge rose from Rs 1,800 to Rs 3,000 over the same period.
He alleged that residents got no prior notice, and the federation has demanded a break-up of the calculation along with a review of the enhanced tax. In Pallavaram, resident Uma said the half-yearly tax on her 2,620-sq-ft ancestral property leapt from Rs 490 to Rs 24,231.
Residents said the spike was mainly due to the civic body’s attempt to bring uniform property tax rates.
