Corporation to allow property tax payment via BBPS

According to a Chennai Corporation official, property owners could use the Bharat Bill Pay System (BBPS) to pay the property tax online. 

"Apart from the BBPS, the civic body is also in discussions with some private bank to simplify the payment system. Making the tax payment easier will encourage property owners to pay the tax on time. We are mulling to provide additional payment options other than BBPS and present facilities," the official said. 

Bharat Bill Pay System is managed by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), which functions under the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). Presently, the civic body collects property tax online through its official website apart from smartphone payment applications. Also, the civic body has tied-up with several banks in the city to collect the tax. Tax collectors would visit door-to-door to collect the tax as they have been given point of sale devices to ensure payment using credit and debit cards. 

The Corporation has collected Rs 346 crore as of January 22 in 2020-2021, which is much lesser than Rs 928 crore collected in 2019- 2020. In 2018-2019 financial year, the civic body collected Rs. 1,002 crore. On the other hand, the civic body also has decided to reassess the property tax of over 1.50 lakh properties in the core city that comprises of zones like Tondiarpet, Royapuram, Thiru Vi Ka Nagar, Anna Nagar, Teynampet, Kodambakkam and Adyar, as they have been identified as under-assessed.