Property tax hike withheld, but website shows new rate

“Even after more than a month since the government announced withholding the general revision of the property tax for 2018-19 effected by the Greater Chennai Corporation, the civic body has not taken efforts to change it in the system,” VS Jayaraman, a resident of T Nagar said.

As a result, property owners still find only the revised rate of tax in Corporation website under column ‘property tax status’. “This creates confusion. Even if one makes the payment at the rate prevailing in 2017-18, the system still shows dues. The civic body should immediately remove the new rates from the website,” he urged.

When contacted, a Chennai Corporation official said that the complaints pertaining to the issue have come, adding that the concerned department was working to rectify the issue.

“The issue will be rectified in one or two days. The property owners can pay their tax as per the old rates by manually entering the amount,” the official said.

The State government had withdrawn its order increasing the property tax by 50 per cent for residential buildings and 100 per cent for commercial buildings after the residents raised several miscalculations and anomalies.

The government has constituted a committee to study the issue and the tax rate would be revised based on the committee’srecommendations.