Ghaziabad Municipal Corporation has started surveys across all five zones to identify properties in freehold colonies that have not yet been assessed for house tax, a move that could bring 80,000 to 90,000 additional properties into the municipal tax net from the next financial year.
The survey covers freehold colonies across the city, where residents have built homes and commercial properties outside areas already assessed by the corporation. Municipal officials are identifying properties that were left out of the existing house-tax records, including houses, shops and vacant or recently occupied flats in housing societies.
Ghaziabad is estimated to have around 450 freehold colonies. Although the corporation is carrying out development works in these areas, including road construction and drainage projects, it has not been receiving house-tax revenue from a large number of properties. The corporation currently has around 4.60 lakh taxpayers within its jurisdiction.
The municipal plan is to complete the survey and determine the tax liability of the identified properties. House tax collection from the newly assessed properties is expected to begin in the next financial year, according to the report. Aniruddh Singh, the corporation’s chief tax assessment officer, said every property in the metropolitan area would be brought within the house-tax system. He also said surveys were under way in housing societies, while tax was already being collected from some freehold colonies.
The exercise also includes flats that were previously left out because they were unoccupied when assessments were conducted. In Raj Nagar Extension, the corporation has assessed 24,375 of the 26,143 flats across 50 societies. The remaining 1,768 flats are now being considered for assessment after residents began occupying them.
In Crossing Republik, there are 13,493 flats across 25 societies. The Vijay Nagar zone has assessed 9,646 flats, while 4,847 had not been assessed. These flats are expected to be brought into the tax system along with unassessed units in Wave City, Tanushree and Golf Link societies. The corporation has also begun the process of imposing house tax in societies in Siddharth Vihar and is issuing notices for the purpose.
The corporation has linked the tax expansion to the need for additional funds for civic works. Officials said councillors were regularly submitting proposals for development projects in freehold colonies, but larger works require more budgetary support. The civic body expects that additional house-tax revenue will help it undertake road, drainage and other local infrastructure works more consistently.
The tax plan also extends to 35 villages that have been incorporated into urban wards, including Sadarpur, Raispur, Rajapur, Mahrauli and Bamheta. Earlier efforts to impose house tax in these areas faced opposition from residents, who asked the corporation to first improve roads, street lighting and piped drinking-water supply. Municipal officials have told residents that civic works will be accelerated after house-tax collection begins. The ongoing survey and subsequent assessments will determine the properties that are formally brought into the tax system.
