Chennai: In a situation where property owners are alleging that property tax in the corporation has increased by more than 10 times, Corporation Commissioner G.S. Sameeran has said that they can appeal to the corporation zonal deputy commissioner and obtain a remedy.
On behalf of the Chennai Corporation, during the Self-Declaration exercise carried out in recent years, based on the details provided by property owners regarding the usage of their properties and the built-up area, work was undertaken to revise property tax assessments.
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the reassessment work was abandoned. Based on the details provided by property owners, along with the re-survey data and satellite imagery data obtained through the Geographic Information System, the municipality is now undertaking the task of revising property tax assessments.
Accordingly, this revision has been carried out to ensure the correct use of the property and the building area in property tax assessment, and to ensure a fair and accurate assessment of all properties.
To reduce the financial burden on property owners, the municipality has announced that property tax reassessment has been carried out from the second half of the 2025-26 financial year, without taking into account when the building was constructed.
Meanwhile, complaints have arisen that due to the municipality’s precise assessment, property tax has increased many times over for property owners compared with what they were paying earlier.
Regarding this, North Chennai Residents Welfare Associations Federation president T.K. Shanmugam said, “In North Chennai, the owner of a property had been paying Rs. 295 per half-year until now.
The municipality has now sent a letter raising it to Rs. 3255. It has said that this should be paid from the second half of the previous financial year.
Accordingly, how can a middle-class property owner pay such a large amount all at once for the second half of the previous financial year, the first half of the current financial year, and the second half in October?
“There is no transparency in this property tax hike,” he said. In this regard, the press release issued by Municipal Commissioner G.S. Sameeran stated: In the municipality, for those who have already been assessed at a lower value and have been paying property tax on that basis, revised assessments have been made based on the relevant data and notices have been issued. If there is any objection to this, they have been given the opportunity to appeal to the concerned zonal deputy commissioner within 15 days, and action has been taken accordingly.
The issue will be resolved within 30 days. Therefore, the public should not believe false reports claiming that property tax has been increased in the municipality. This was stated in the press release.
