Bangalore Development Authority doubles property tax

In a recent move, the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) has increased the property tax across the city. The decision to double the property tax and addition of maintenance tax despite non-providence of basic amenities in Bangalore has met with citizen’s protest.

Despite the challenges faced by the property owners amid COVID-19, the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) has almost doubled the property tax across the city. The policy decision has come as an enhanced burden on the citizens amid the Coronavirus pandemic.

Although the slabs of maintenance fee are uniform across BDA layouts in the city, the impact of the rate hike will differ across the city as property tax differs from region to region.

For example, an owner of a 1,200 sq ft property in Kempegowda Layout, who had paid Rs 838 as property tax in 2020, will have to pay Rs 3,233 as property tax this year. It amounts to an almost 300 percent hike. Similarly, an owner of a 2,400 sq ft property in Anjanapura Layout will pay Rs 6,000 as property tax against Rs 3,600 last year.

The decision to hike the property tax rates has irked the citizens and met with a protest. The general trend towards increasing the tax has been 15 percent in one go. Almost doubling it will put enormous pressure on the pockets of the citizens during pandemic times.

In addition to this, the inclusion of maintenance charges to the total property tax has not gone well with the citizens as BDA is yet to provide basic amenities such as roads, footpaths and streetlights in many areas.