AMC launches ‘dhol’ drive against property tax defaulters

Ahmedabad: Taking an unconventional approach to address chronic property tax defaulters, the Amdavad Municipal Corporation (AMC) launched a drive today to announce the names of these defaulters by beating drums in their neighbourhoods.

This move comes after multiple notices and warnings, including threats to disconnect water and sewer services, failed to prompt any payments. With a sharp decline in tax collections, the AMC has also announced plans to auction the properties of commercial defaulters to recover the unpaid taxes.

Today, the AMC’s East Zone Tax Department is visiting five societies in the Vastral area, where they will publicly announce the names of property owners who owe taxes, along with the amounts due. This announcement is being made by beating drums within the societies, and defaulters will be urged to pay their overdue taxes at the municipal office.

This initiative will extend to the West Zone on Thursday, covering areas such as Jivraj Park, Bopal, Vejalpur, and Juhapura.

In the 2023-24 financial year, the AMC collected Rs 1,679.98 crore in property taxes. However, by December 3 of the 2024-25 fiscal year, this amount had dropped significantly to Rs 1,184.92 crore. The total tax revenue from all sources for the 2024-25 fiscal year stands at Rs 1,524.20 crore, which is only 70.8% of the previous year’s total of Rs 2,152.82 crore. DeshGujarat