Hyderabad: The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) is set to gain partial financial relief while simultaneously suffering a major revenue setback following the state govt’s latest decision on pending property tax dues from govt departments. Govt buildings across various departments had accumulated nearly Rs 6,000 crore in pending property taxes and interest arrears over the decades. Of this, the principal property tax dues are estimated at around Rs 1,700 crore, while accumulated interest arrears have touched nearly Rs 4,300 crore.As part of a One-Time Settlement (OTS) scheme, the state govt has implemented a 90% waiver on the accumulated interest arrears, effectively writing off more than Rs 4,000 crore owed to GHMC. However, the state govt will bear the burden of clearing the pending principal property tax dues owed by several departments.Around 50 departments have not cleared their taxes for years. Some of the major defaulters in GHMC include the Telangana secretariat, roads & buildings department, revenue department, health & medical department, prohibition and south central railway. Surprisingly, the outstanding dues from the secretariat have remained unsettled since 2001, dating back to the united Andhra Pradesh period, while the R&B department has not cleared its dues since 2009.The decision comes shortly after the state govt announced plans to clear GHMC debts amounting to around Rs 5,000 crore, a move expected to help the civic body become debt-free after many years. While the debt clearance is likely to strengthen GHMC’s financial position, the waiver of massive interest arrears from govt buildings could result in significant revenue loss to the corporation.Officials said that the latest move is aimed at improving GHMC’s fiscal health while resolving long-pending dues involving govt departments. “The main objective is to clean up the financial balance sheet of the corporations. The borrowings and pending dues have been reflecting negatively in the financial records for years. To address this, the state govt has decided to clear outstanding liabilities and make the corporations free from dues and debts,” said a senior official in MAUD.
