HYDERABAD: With less than three weeks to go for the end of current financial year, the Municipal Corporation of Hyderabad is going whole hog to mop up property tax collections and is confident of crossing the Rs. 200 crore-mark for the first time.

Although officials manning the finance wing are reluctant to reveal the precise quantum of sums collected, it is said to be veering closer to the magic mark once tax dues from the Government come in. Yet, it would be way below the projected income of Rs. 225 crores.

Recent issuance of red notices to over a lakh `persistent' defaulters last month has worked with as much as Rs. 10 crores picked up, claims Additional Commissioner (Finance) L. Vandan Kumar.

"We faced resistance and even threats but it comes with the job. We have pasted notices on their doors wherever they had refused to accept or there were locked doors but the red notices worked," he says.

Other than these, about 200 property attachment notices too were issued separately. Most defaulters have to pay between Rs. 4,000 and Rs. 20,000. This year the number of assessed properties was 5.33 lakh, said to be 14 per cent more compared to last year. Mr. Kumar denied that the corporation was missing out collecting taxes from un-assessed properties.

Efforts to bring educational institutions into the tax net has hit a roadblock with the Government directing the municipal bodies to "keep in abeyance collection of property tax from institutions belonging to charitable organisations" last year.

Prior to that some private institutions went to the court seeking exemption. The court has directed the corporation to collect 15 per cent service charge based on annual rental value and exempt them from paying another 15 per cent of general tax usually levied.

However, the existing order which some feel goes against the HMC Act itself has prevented MCH from adding close to Rs. 5 crores from more than 500 educational institutions. At the same time the civic body too has been guilty of not acting against big time defaulters. For example, a noted mall builder alone owes close to Rs. 30 lakhs!

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