Property tax collection is set to go hi-tech in Hyderabad soon.

The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) has decided deploy Geo-Information System (GIS) technology for efficient tax collection.

As per the decision taken in a review meeting by GHMC Commissioner DS Lokesh Kumar and Mayor Bonthu Rammohan, the corporation will map 15 lakh properties in the city. It has decided to go for the scientific assessment after noticing instances of under-assessment of many properties, which leads to lesser accruals of property tax.

The technology will also be harnessed for the purpose of mapping new properties and identifying under-assessed properties. The data would be used to revise the property tax demands from the property owners.

“We are doing a pilot project in the Moosapet Circle. We are planning to expand this to the rest of the city in the next few months,” the Hyderabad Mayor said.

A pilot project has already been conducted in the Moosapet circle in Hyderabad. The geo-mapping of properties will be completed by December, and the Corporation plans to use this technology for property tax collection from January next year.

The Vigilance Department in the corporation has been asked to work with relevant departments to enforce the revised assessments.

Other decisions

In order to ensure better attendance and accountability, the corporation has also decided to link the bio-metric attendance machines with geo-fencing. Employees working in the field (in three shifts) will be asked to mark their attendance twice, once at the beginning of the shift and the other at the end of each shift.

Geo-fencing tags a particular machine or a person to a particular geography. Any violations could be registered and flagged immediately.

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