GHAZIABAD: The Ghaziabad Municipal Corporation (GMC) board has repealed its earlier decision to increase property tax in the city. The new tax structure, which took effect on April 1 this year, faced significant backlash from Resident Welfare Associations (RWAs) and business groups, prompting councillors to urge the board to reconsider its stance.
Mayor Sunita Dayal convened a special board meeting to address the matter. Following a spirited discussion, the board ultimately decided to rescind the tax hike. Notable figures in attendance included Ghaziabad MP Atul Garg and MLAs Sunil Sharma, Sanjeev Sharma, and Ajitpal Tyagi.
Dayal stated, “The increased property tax has been repealed. GMC will not issue notices to residents regarding the hiked tax slab. We have also recruited 100 employees to conduct inspections to resolve complaints about incorrect tax notices from residents.”
Municipal Commissioner Vikramaditya Singh Malik added, “The GMC board’s resolution will be forwarded to the state government. Given that the issue is currently before the Allahabad High Court, we will await the state’s and court’s decisions before implementing the board’s action.”
Former GMC councillor Rajendra Tyagi had filed a lawsuit against the GMC’s decision to increase property tax in late May. He argued, “According to municipal rules, GMC can increase property tax only once every two years. The tax was raised by 10% for FY 2023-24, and the increase this year is nearly three to four times higher, breaching the regulations. Now that the GMC board has nullified its decision, we will include this in our response in the upcoming court hearing on July 29.”
Tyagi also indicated that the court might consider dropping the contested increase, but three other points will still be examined. His case questions GMC’s policy of applying a uniform tax rate across different property types, arguing that rebates based on property age should be given as per the rules: 25% for properties older than 10 years, 32.40% for those between 10-20 years, and 40% for buildings over 20 years old.
Prior to April 1, property tax rates varied from Rs 0.32/sq foot for properties with less than 12 meters of road width to Rs 0.65 to Rs 2.4 for wider roads. The revised rates range from Rs 0.75/sq foot to Rs 4/sq foot, following a board decision in March to align tax rates with the district magistrate’s circle rate. The GMC calculates tax based on annual rental value (ARV) of properties.
