PUNE: The civic body will increase the annual rateable value of new properties to be registered after April 1 this year, which would result in higher property tax for their owners.
“The hike is only 5% in the base price and will not affect the old properties,” Vilas Kanade, head of the Pune Municipal Corporation’s (PMC) property tax department, said.
The annual rateable value (ARV) is a base price, on the basis of which the property tax is calculated. The tax is calculated in proportion to the size of the property.
The hike will be for residential as well as commercial properties. The PMC has made 53 divisions of the civic limits and the ARV has been finalized on the basis of the ready reckoner rates of the areas in the regions.
The rates for the residential areas range from Rs2.25 to Rs3.67, while that for the commercial establishments range from Rs6 to Rs9.5, which would be increased by 5%.
Kanade said the hike has been kept low in view of the current market scenario. As per the PMC data, 10.6 lakh properties are in the property tax net, which include properties as well as open plots.
Property tax is one of the biggest sources of income for the PMC. On an average around Rs1,600 crore to Rs1,700 crore are collected from property tax. The PMC is hoping to generate more revenue after the merger of 23 villages in the civic limits.