Chennai Corporation Halts Property Tax Reassessment After Public Backlash

CHENNAI: The Greater Chennai Corporation has put its property tax reassessment exercise on hold with immediate effect, following multiple petitions in recent days demanding the withdrawal of the revised demands.

In an official statement released on Thursday, the civic body announced that property tax rates will revert to the amounts prevailing before the revision. For property owners who have already paid the revised tax amounts, the civic body stated that the excess payments will be adjusted against subsequent half-years as advance tax.

The municipal corporation had undertaken the reassessment drive in an effort to address an ongoing fund crunch and boost revenue collection by targeting properties identified as under-assessed. The civic body carried out this exercise without raising base property tax rates, instead issuing 3.49 lakh notices carrying revised demands to owners of under-assessed properties across the city.

According to corporation officials, a total of 28,382 assessees had accepted the reassessment before the process was suspended. Through these completed payments, the civic administration had collected an additional Rs 11.10 crore in revenue as of Thursday.

However, following widespread backlash and formal representations from residents seeking a rollback of the reassessment exercise, the civic administration decided to suspend the drive and restore the earlier tax structure.