Bengaluru civic bodies are collecting half of the annual property tax target, but the weekly pace is lagging

For the fiscal year 2026-27, the five companies under the Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) have a combined property tax revenue target of ₹ 6,700 crore, according to GBA data. By the end of August, the corporations had already collected ₹ 3,372.48 crore, which is 50.3% of the annual target.

Compared to the previous year’s collection for the same period of ₹ 3,211 crore, the companies achieved 5% higher revenue collection this year.

Although there has been a slight increase, the new civic organizations are still struggling to maintain the desired weekly pace as they are only able to reach 40% to 60% of the total weekly target which is set at ₹103.99 crore.

According to the report, the city has 21,73,630 properties in its tax base, including residential, non-residential, mixed and vacant properties. The actual revenue potential from these properties is pegged at ₹ 4,066.11 crore. Including arrears and revisions, the revenue target rises to ₹ 6,700 crore.

Positive expansion, but not enough

Civic authorities have identified 3.19 million defaulters who owe ₹609.32 crore to corporations. In addition, corporations have identified 32,215 cases under the enforcement of revisions, which is expected to yield ₹554 crore.

The numbers suggest that corporations continue to expand the property tax revenue base even as they fail to open up new revenue opportunities. Last year too, the final property tax collection was less than ₹ 4,100 crore, leaving the arrears in excess of ₹ 2,000 crore. However, the current trend suggests that tax collections are likely to exceed the previous year’s level.

Despite the relatively good performance, enforcement needs to be tightened so that companies can significantly increase collections in the remaining months and remain on track to meet the annual target.

Positive about the increase

The Municipal Corporation Commissioner explained to The Hindu that the civic body is actively trying to achieve the target as there is high dependence on property tax to keep its revenue base healthy.

“During the civic budget, several works were planned that expected revenue from roads like B-Khata conversion scheme and other sources. But many of them have not achieved the expected revenue, so we are trying to keep the available revenue sources healthy,” he explained.

The official further explained that despite the staff crunch due to several surveys, property tax collection was better than last year. As the number of employees increases, the corporation will focus on tightening the collection and enforcement processes.

How the civic bodies fared

According to data, East Corporation recorded the highest share of its target, collecting ₹882.22 crore or 52.72% of its target. West followed with ₹667.16 million (52.06%), while South and Central scored 50.37% and 50.13% respectively.

North is lagging behind others to collect ₹565.56 crore or 45.52% of its target of ₹1,242.33 crore. However, it recorded the highest year-on-year increase in collections, namely 9.15%.

Published – 8 Sep 2026 23:16 IST