Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru

Mangaluru, Apr 13: Mangaluru City Corporation (MCC) has achieved a new milestone by surpassing its property tax collection target for the financial year 2024-25, recording Rs 138.2 crore against the government-assigned target of Rs 115 crore.

Despite facing technical hurdles and pending collections, the corporation managed to collect an impressive Rs 37.2 crore in the final 45 days alone, officials said.

The MCC jurisdiction covers 2.16 lac property owners. In the previous year, the corporation had collected Rs 117 crore. With consistent efforts this year, aided by multiple campaigns, officials not only met the target but also collected Rs 23.2 crore in excess.

However, there are still outstanding dues. Due to technical reasons, around 28,000 to 30,000 property owners are yet to clear their tax payments, especially those whose properties have not yet migrated to the e-khata system.

The city corporation has not conducted a comprehensive property survey in recent years. As per government guidelines, there is an annual three per cent hike in property taxes. Officials said that many commercial establishments operating for years have not been paying proper taxes, and notices have been issued to them. Legal action will be initiated if payments are not made.

Deputy commissioner of MCC revenue division Akshatha K stated that the success was achieved through persistent efforts under the leadership of the commissioner. She urged taxpayers to use the website www.mccproperty.in for advance payments and highlighted that a five per cent rebate would be applicable for early payments made in April. She also noted that 10 to 15 per cent of property owners still prefer offline payments and should visit the MCC office to clear dues.

Key initiatives behind the success:

• Self-declared property tax awareness drive:
  Until February, MCC had collected Rs 101 crore. To mobilize the remaining Rs 14 crore, a special drive was launched in February across all 60 wards using mobile vans to spread awareness, which yielded positive results.

• Phone call campaigns:
  MCC partnered with Smart City to micro-manage collections. Lists of defaulters were prepared, and direct calls and bulk messages were sent to taxpayers. Pamphlets were also distributed, and follow-ups were conducted at the ward level by revenue officials.

• Five per cent rebate incentive:
  To encourage timely payments, MCC waived penalties and offered a five per cent discount for advance taxpayers, which further boosted collections.