RMC misses property tax collection target

Rajkot: The tax recovery branch of the Rajkot Municipal Corporation (RMC) missed its property tax target for financial year 2025-26. The branch reported collection of Rs 447.93 crore, Rs 7.87 crore below its target of Rs 455.8 crore. Twenty-five per cent of property owners failed to pay despite reminders from the RMC and warnings about strict action. This collection figure still represents 8.44% growth from the previous financial year, a Rs 34.44 crore increase.Improving compliance and zone-wise collectionOfficial statistics reveal a weak compliance rate, with 75.75% of property owners fulfilling their tax obligations this year. Of 6,10,931 registered properties in the city, taxes were received from 4,63,564 properties. This is a slight improvement from last year, with 43,905 more owners paying taxes compared to FY 2024-25.West Zone was the highest contributor, netting Rs 189.65 crore from 2,08,850 taxpayers. Central Zone followed with Rs 161.80 crore from 1,48,406 taxpayers, while East Zone recorded Rs 95.79 crore from 1,05,552 property owners.When broken down by property type, the commercial sector's contribution was larger. A total of 1,15,534 non-residential taxpayers paid Rs 242.34 crore, while 3,47,274 residential taxpayers paid Rs 204.90 crore. RMC also recovered Rs 24.21 crore from govt properties.Digital shift and successful waiver schemeThere was a strong shift to digital payments, 65.40% of the paying public or 3,02,674 taxpayers, opting for online transactions. These payments amounted to Rs 240 crore. Meanwhile, Rs 125.94 crore was collected in cash, and Rs 81.3 crore by cheques.Strict enforcement and new assessmentThe RMC says it maintained a strict stance against persistent defaulters. During recovery operations, the civic body issued confiscation notices to 12,191 properties and sealed 1,566 properties.