Ghaziabad municipal corporation scraps property tax hike
The Ghaziabad municipal corporation on Monday rejected the proposed property tax hike after it faced stiff opposition from public representatives during a special board meeting, mayor Sunita Dayal said.
“The move to hike the tax was rejected by the board, and there will be no hike,” said Dayal. “This year, we will take tax as per old rates,” she added.
The decision came after widespread public backlash against the new tax structure, which residents claimed inflated property tax bills by three to five times. The mayor said the corporation would now conduct a detailed survey to determine accurate tax incidence based on construction status. “This will take two to two-and-a-half months. About 100 temporary surveyors will also be roped in,” she said.
The mayor further urged residents to undertake self-assessment and declare any construction on their properties to help determine accurate taxation. To be sure, the city currently has about 4.52 lakh old properties and an estimated 1.25 lakh new but untaxed properties. The current tax structure includes house tax (10%), sewage/drainage tax (4%), and water tax (10%).
Monday’s board meeting also saw participation from local MLAs—Sunil Sharma (Sahibabad), Sanjeev Sharma (Ghaziabad), and Ajit Pal Tyagi (Muradnagar)—and Ghaziabad MP Atul Garg. According to Sanjay Nagar councillor Ajay Sharma, “Almost 99% of councillors and public representatives opposed the hike in property tax, which was badly implemented and adversely burdened the common man. The move will be a relief for residents.”
Sanjay Singh, councillor from Shipra Sun City in Indirapuram, said the new tax structure lacked transparency and due diligence. “It was implemented without proper homework, and this was bound to fail. Every household should know the basis of the hike transparently,” he said.
When reached out to by HT, the corporation’s chief tax assessment officer, Sanjeev Sinha, declined to comment.
Meanwhile, three former councillors, including Rajendra Tyagi, have filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in the Allahabad high court. The hearing is scheduled for July 29. “Despite the decision by the board on Monday, we will continue to pursue the PIL filed at the high court and expose shortcomings. The corporation must release the minutes of Monday’s board meeting at the earliest and make it public. If the officials say that residents made additional constructions and this increased the incidence of tax, they must explain why the additional constructions were allowed to come up and who all were involved in allowing such constructions for years altogether,” Tyagi said.
In their PIL, the former councillors have sought to quash the new property tax structure based on circle rates and a related order linking tax to road width. They also argued that rebates under Section 174(2)(a) of the UP Municipal Corporation Act—which offers tax relief based on a property’s age—should be granted.
