Short-staffed, cannot check all properties in a year: BMC officials

BMC (File Photo)

Officials of the Assessment and Collection Department of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) have said that they cannot conduct the survey of and assess all the properties in the areas assigned to them within a year, as they were severely short-staffed.  “Currently we have 530 assessment inspectors in the BMC and approximately three lakh properties, which means that each inspector has around 567 properties to assess in a year, said an official.
Claiming that they have been short-staffed for years, an inspector said their work profile had become ambiguous and, with the number of properties growing in the city, the assessment department needed more hands.

“In the 1960s, the department had around 567 posts, these posts have still not been increased, even after 57 years. Till last year, of these 567, 402 were filled. This year, we have 530 assessment inspectors for more than three lakh properties a year,” he added. The assessment and collection department includes a property tax wing and an
octroi wing.

The octroi department was scrapped after the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) on July 1, following which there were talks of absorbing this staff into the property tax wing after a written exam, said civic officials. Earlier this month, senior civic officials decided to conduct a lottery instead, they added.  Meanwhile, employees said the reshuffle was uncalled for as the property tax wing was already short-staffed and
overburdened.

A senior assessment inspector said, “The way the department is functioning is contrary to the suggestions of a norms committee set up in 2014, which mandated that one employee be given work upto 305 properties only. If the BMC includes all employees from the octroi wing into the property tax wing, we will still be short staffed. This way, inspectors cannot assess all the properties in the areas assigned to them, thus locking up that much revenue for a year at least. This also gives rise to malpractices, it’s for the higher officials to  think of.”

Another official said, “At present, there are three lakh properties in Mumbai, assessed by 530 property tax employees, as each one handles over 500 properties. Norms committee had calculated the working days of a government employee, and the hours and time required to assess one property. It had concluded that every employee should be given 305 properties each. But suggestions of the committee weren’t implemented. And now, employees have been reassigned, leading to chaos in the  department.”

Sanjog Kabare, BMC’s assessment and collection officer, who heads the department, could not be reached.
Mumbai Mayor Vishwanath Mahadeshwar said, “The recommendations of the previous norms committee were stayed by the administration, citing that the committee was formed without consulting the BMC commissioner. I have discussed the issue with the BMC administration, which has argued that with the new and advance technology in place, one inspector can assess more than 1,000 properties in a year. The administration will soon form another committee to frame the new norms. I have urged the civic administration to conduct a survey and come to conclusion at the earliest.”

However, inspectors claimed that whatever the new technology was, inspectors have to visit and survey the property manually, hence, workload would not reduce.  This would, in turn, lead to a loss of revenue, they added.