Private company needs to assess 7,000 properties a day to meet deadline

NAGPUR: M/s Cybertech Systems and Software Limited, tasked with assessing all properties in the city for tax purposes, faces a Herculean task as it will have to complete the assessment of nearly 1.40 lakh properties in the 19 days remaining in the current fiscal year. This comes to around 7,368 properties per day.
The NMC had entrusted the job of door-to-door assessment of properties to the firm in July 2015 which was to be completed in two years. The firm was also given three-month extension twice.

Of the 5.27 lakh properties in the city, Cybertech Systems has surveyed 3.83 lakh properties comprising 6,00,729 units till February 27. The zonal offices have approved 2,43,707 properties and 4,51,502 units. However, the zone offices have rejected surveys of around 1,39,845 properties and 1,49,227 units for various reasons like incomplete data, wrong address etc.

According to data procured from the NMC, the firm is now has an impossible task ahead to complete the remaining assessment in 19 days as its new deadline is March 31.

Based on the survey, the NMC has been able to raise only two lakh invoices for the current fiscal and this delay would hit its property tax revenue collection target of Rs 564 crore including current target of Rs 302 crore.

Sources in NMC’s property tax department said there are around 5.27 lakh properties in 10 zones and through Cybertech Systems the civic body is doing its Geographic Information System (GIS)-based mapping to increase its revenue and to calibrate the identified unassessed properties.

Since 2000, no survey was done to assess the properties under the NMC limits, said sources. For any civic body, one of the major sources of revenue is its property tax collection. To get the correct revenue realization, GIS-based technologies and applications would be extremely effective. The technology was also implemented by Pune Municipal Corporation, resulting in its property tax collection increasing manifold.

An official from the tax department admitted that it would be nearly impossible task for the agency and also blamed the standing committee for clearing the extension proposal of the firm. He, however, pointed out that to overcome this crisis the NMC is planning to rope in two more contractors for the survey of remaining properties.