BBMP to use carrot-and-stick policy to increase tax revenue

Upbeat with a record collection of Rs 2,000 crore in just two months, the BBMP is considering the carrot-and-stick approach for revenue officers responsible for collecting property tax.

The civic body has set an ambitious target of collecting Rs 5,500 crore from property tax this year.

As part of the carrot-and-stick policy, the BBMP will establish a revenue vigilance squad to select random cases and cross-check the assessments made by revenue officers, mostly pertaining to commercial establishments. The civic body has also planned to deploy revenue officers of one ward to undertake surprise checks in other words.

The BBMP’s proposal, which was announced by Chief Commissioner Tushar Girinath at a workshop for revenue officers and inspectors last week, also includes incentivising officers who work honestly. It plans to set aside a small portion of the revenue as an incentive that will be given to zones that perform extremely well.

“The tax revenue of New Delhi and Mumbai is much more than the BBMP although Bengaluru is the highest income-tax generating city in the country. This goes to show that property evaluation is not being done rightly. We are, therefore, planning to adopt a few strategies to increase tax compliance,” Girinath had told the revenue officers.

Major reshuffle

While asking the officers to introspect the way they have been working, the chief commissioner said he would undertake a major reshuffle of the revenue department so that officers — those who have made mistakes in their zone — can start working honestly in a new ward.

“So far, there was no performance evaluation of revenue officers. We plan to form a vigilante squad and conduct surprise checks,” he said. He also assured an incentive scheme for zones that perform well.

It is also learnt that the BBMP has received a database of various agencies such as Bescom and GST Karnataka to cross-check the commercial properties that have been paying lower taxes by hoodwinking the system. The main target of the civic body is to look for units that are classified as residential properties but are running commercial activities.

Meanwhile, some residential properties have been complaining that their property tax for this financial year has gone up.

Deepak R L, Special Commissioner (Revenue), BBMP, did not respond to phone calls seeking comment for this report.