The BMC has proposed to allow hotels and restaurants to pay property tax as industrial units instead of as commercial units. Officials said that this will help hotels and restaurants since property tax rates for industrial units are less than commercial units.
Congress corporator Ravi Raja, who opposed the move, said the proposal to revise the tax was deferred to the next standing committee meeting.
“We are against any hike in property tax even if it’s by way of calculations based on the new RR rates. The BMC can’t hike rates for home owners when they are giving doles to hotel and restaurant owners. There should be no hike in property tax as people have lost income due to the pandemic and the lockdown. We will oppose this move,” Raja said. Samajwadi Party MLA and corporator Rais Shaikh also opposed the move.
“Property tax is calculated on capital value of property based on RR rates. The RR rate is multiplied with various factors like year of construction, floor rise, carpet area of the property, nature of construction, ward in which it is located to determine capital value of the property, among others,” explained an official.
