By Indrajeet Devulapally

•Consumers using less than 50 and 100 units of current to benefit from waivers
•3 lakh households waived off Rs. 295 cr water dues
•Property tax waived for consumers who pay up to Rs. 1,200 per year

Hyderabad: How far is the Telangana government’s power and property tax waiver a boon to the city? The reduction of property tax, waiver of electricity and water bills seems to be a gimmick played by the government in the wake of civic polls.

Consumers have already stopped paying bills to GHMC and the Telangana Southern Power Distribution Company Limited (TSPDCL) hoping to receive benefits. Revenues of these civic already seem to have taken a toll. However, Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao is yet to announce the formal orders on the concession to both departments.

An official announcement about the waiver of property tax was made the Chief Minister a couple of months ago. It was said that a nominal Rs.101 would be collected as tax by GHMC from those who have been paying a tax up to Rs. 1,200. The orders, however, were not officially given by the municipal admin department.

Property tax - being the primary source of revenue for the civic body, was badly hit after the unofficial announcements made by the CM. Only a mere Rs. 452 cr has been collected as property tax till the beginning of December against high target of Rs. 1,796 cr. Sources also reveal that most taxpayers who fall under the Rs. 1,200 have not turned up this year keeping in mind the announcements made by the CM. A drastic fall in the collections was also noticed.

Only Rs. 27 cr was collected in the South Zone of the city which includes the old city, which has the most number of people paying a tax up to Rs. 1,200.

Since the civic body staff – tax inspectors, bill collectors and valuation officers have been given election duties for the civil polls; the tax collection has been poor.

While such is the case with GHMC, Southern Power Discom officials also fear a dip in the collections due to the announcements made. As many as 72 lakh consumers pay a total of Rs. 259 cr collectively, which is also likely to be hit. About six lakh of these consumers have a consumption of less than 50 and 100 units of power. These consumers are likely to gets benefits.

On the other hand, a waiver of Rs.295 cr worth water dues was for about three lakh households was also promised by the government, which is giving nightmares to the officials.

Though the waiver seems like a blessing to the people, it has been a nightmare for the civic-body officials so far.

The uncertainty remains.

Will the government reimburse the amount waived off?

If yes, how long will it take for complete reimbursement?