Ghaziabad: Facing protests over property tax following a recent order by the Allahabad high court, the Ghaziabad Municipal Corporation (GMC) has announced a set of rebates aimed at easing the burden on residents.At a board meeting on Saturday, GMC approved a 10% rebate on property tax for housing societies, institutions and residents who segregate waste at source. This is in line with the rollout of the Solid Waste Management Rules, 2026, which will come into effect from April 1.Municipal commissioner Vikramaditya Malik Singh said the civic body already offers a 20% rebate on property tax for timely payments. Additional rebates are linked to the age of buildings — 25% for properties up to 10 years old, 32.5% for those between 10 and 20 years, and 40% for buildings older than 25 years. Taxpayers also receive an extra 2% rebate for making payments online. “If we add up the rebates offered under all heads, it will be between 77% and 92% (points). The board has vetted the proposal and we see no reason for people to protest now,” said Singh.Mayor Sunita Dayal said, “Largely, the rebate proposal has been accepted and the board has vetted it. Until the day the board decides otherwise on rebates, it will stay. The board will also forward the decision taken to the state govt.”On Feb 25, a high court division bench of Chief Justice Arun Bhansali and Justice Kshitij Shailendra dismissed a petition filed by three former GMC councillors, holding that the corporation’s method of fixing the minimum monthly rent rates and revising property tax at par with the DM circle rate was legally sound.From April 1 last year, GMC introduced a new property tax slab that led to an increase of about three to four times. Under the revised tax structure, rates increased from Re 0.7 to Rs 4 per square foot, resulting in consumers paying Rs 5,000 more in taxes annually.Former GMC councillor Rajendra Tyagi, who was one of the three councillors who had filed the case, said, “It seems the GMC officials, to break the momentum of protest, have offered a piecemeal solution. There is no roadmap for how the implementation will be done. Secondly, in spite of rebates, which are not standardised, the rates still remain high. In Raj Nagar Extension, for instance, where the property rate before April 1, 2025 was Rs 1.45/sq foot. After the hike, it was Rs 4/sq foot. Now, even if it is slashed to 50% on average, it remains higher than before. We are monitoring the situation and if we are keeping the option to challenge the decision in SC open.”GMC calculates property taxes on the annual rental value and at present, the civic body has over 6 lakh taxpayers. With increased taxes, the corporation will generate additional revenue of over Rs 120 crore. In FY 2025-26, GMC generated a revenue of Rs 375 crore from property tax,and a target of Rs 450 crore has been set for FY 2026-27.
