Despite State Orders, Pune Citizens Still Await 40% Property Tax Discount

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Pune, 27th May 2025: Despite owning a single property and residing in it, many Pune residents have not received the 40% rebate on property tax from the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC), causing financial strain. This issue has persisted for over two years, even after citizens submitted the required PT-3 forms and supporting documents.

The PMC’s Property Tax Department, once known for its efficiency and orderliness, has witnessed increasing disarray over the past few years. Delays have become common, with this year’s property tax bills being distributed a month late, starting only from 1st May instead of April.

Many residents submitted PT-3 forms assuming the rebate would be applied to their 2025–26 tax bills and any overpaid amounts from previous years would be adjusted. However, PMC continued to demand full 100% tax payments. It is seen that software and billing updates required to reflect the rebate were delayed, and even after tax collection began, the rebate was not implemented. Officials have since stated that revised bills may be issued with the rebate applied.

The controversy stems from a 2019 decision when the State Government questioned the legitimacy of the 40% rebate that had been in place since 1970 and ordered it to be discontinued. Following this, PMC hired a private agency to conduct a city-wide survey to identify properties with multiple ownership or those rented out. As a result, nearly 4.64 lakh residential properties lost their rebate and were charged the full tax.

However, flaws in the survey led to several eligible homeowners — who owned only one property and lived in it — being wrongly denied the rebate. Widespread discontent followed, prompting the state government to reinstate the rebate in 2023. Citizens were then asked to reapply using the PT-3 form, but the confusion has continued into 2025.

Out of approximately 9 lakh residential properties, only 95,000 applications were received initially. In 2024, PMC deployed nearly 350 staff to conduct a door-to-door survey across 4.63 lakh properties. The survey revealed that 2.42 lakh of them were indeed owner-occupied and eligible for the rebate, while the rest were found to be rented and thus disqualified.

Despite this effort, several homeowners have received property tax bills this year without the rebate. This has raised concerns that the recent survey may have been merely a bureaucratic exercise with no real implementation.

Avinash Sapkal, Deputy Commissioner of the Property Tax Department, acknowledged the issue: “We’ve received multiple complaints regarding the non-application of the 40% rebate for the 2025–26 tax bills. Affected citizens have been asked to resubmit the PT-3 form and proof of residence. We will ensure that no injustice is done.”

Current Situation:

– Citizens are being forced to visit ward offices repeatedly.
– PMC staff often give evasive responses.
– Revised orders from headquarters are still pending.
– Excess payments from previous years have not been adjusted in current bills.

Key Statistics:

– Total properties in the city: 14.25 lakh
– Residential properties: 9 lakh
– Properties charged 100% tax: 4.64 lakh
– Properties granted 40% rebate post-survey: 2.42 lakh
– Properties still denied rebate post-survey: 2.20 lakh
– Property tax collected between 1st May–26th May: Rs 400 crore
– Number of taxpayers in this period: 2.82 lakh