The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) has collected over Rs 1,113 crore as property tax in the April to June quarter, a surge of over 40 per cent from the same period of time the previous year.
Addressing a press conference, Mayor Shelly Oberoi said the number of taxpayers has also increased to around 7.17 lakh. “A property tax of Rs 1,113 crore has been collected by the MCD,” Oberoi said, adding that the figure was higher than that of 2021 and 2022.
Oberoi said the Municipal Corporation was making losses before despite collecting taxes earlier also. The people of Delhi have shown faith in Aam Aadmi Party Government, she said.
In 2021-22, the property tax collected was Rs 695 crore, while it was Rs 540 crore in 2020-21. Lauding the higher tax collection, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in a tweet said that people are voluntarily paying their taxes due to the presence of an honest government in Delhi.
“Earlier, people did not pay taxes during BJP's rule. They thought that the tax they paid would be stolen. Now, after the formation of the Aam Aadmi Party government, people themselves have come forward and started paying taxes.
They have faith that since there is an honest government now, every penny will be spent on the development of the people,” Kejriwal tweeted in Hindi. AAP MCD in-charge and MLA, Durgesh Pathak expressed his heartfelt gratitude to the people of Delhi for showing their unwavering support for the AAP's transformative efforts, marking a significant milestone in the city's history.
Leader of Opposition in MCD and former Mayor Raja Iqbal Singh and Delhi BJP Spokesperson Praveen Shankar Kapoor have condemned the statements given by Pathak and Mayor Oberoi and have said that it is all a misleading game of statistics.
Singh said that earlier 15% rebate was given on depositing advance property tax, but after assuming charge in corporation AAP has reduced it to 10%.