Pune: PCMC to be the first civic body to use drones for property tax assessment survey

To bring more efficiency in the property survey in Pimpri Chinchwad municipal limits, the properties in the city will now be surveyed by drone using modern technology. Through this, the corporation intends to measure every property in the city very carefully. This will be the first municipal corporation in the state to implement such a pilot initiative and other cities will also follow this ambitious initiative, said Commissioner and Administrator Shekhar Singh.

The properties within Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation limits will now be surveyed by drones. The initiative was launched by flying a drone in the sky recently at HA Ground in Pimpri by Commissioner and Administrator Shekhar Singh. He was talking at that time.

This program was organized on behalf of the Tax Collection Department of Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation.

Technology can overcome human error. The number of properties in this city is also increasing day by day and these properties will now be surveyed by drones on behalf of the municipal corporation. Through this, each property in the city will be measured very accurately. So unregistered properties will now come under tax ambit. Also unauthorized constructions will also be stopped. It is believed that it will be used not only for property survey but also for disaster management, construction permit, sky sign and license and encroachment department as well, said Commissioner Singh on this occasion.

A very ambitious GIS based property registration survey and tax valuation project has been implemented on behalf of the Municipal Corporation. Everyone should carry out their work more responsibly to make this initiative a success said Commissioner Singh to concerned officials.

Computerization of site maps of properties through drone survey will be done in this project. All the information collected through the survey will be computerized and linked with digital photos in the tax assessment computer manual property wise. Therefore, the taxable area, map, property photo and tax assessment can be viewed together through computer command. Each property in the city will be recorded in the survey. Therefore, this survey is very important and the revenue of the tax collection department is estimated to go up to one and a half thousand crores.

Property tax is the main source of income of the municipal corporation and there are 630,000 properties in the city. In the financial year 2023-24, the tax collection department has collected 977 crore tax for the first time in the history of the municipal corporation. The number of properties in the city is also increasing day by day. However, it has been revealed from time to time surveys that many people do not register their properties in the municipal register. Earlier, when the Municipal Corporation conducted a survey in 2013, about 35 thousand new properties were found and in the survey conducted in 2021, 21 thousand new properties were found. However, even after this, there is a possibility of large unregistered properties in the city. Therefore, for the first time, the municipal corporation will conduct a survey using modern technology.

To increase the income of the Municipal Corporation, the tax collection department has been using various advanced technologies since last year, as a result of which, the highest revenue in the history of the Municipal Corporation has been collected in the last year. In this, all the officers, employees, architectural consultants of the tax collection and taxation department as well as Tech Nine, Foxberry Technologies have an important role. Through this survey, the properties will be re-inspected. All properties will be registered together through all inclusive survey. Technology will be used to increase property tax collection by registering changes in construction.

To bring all properties in the city under the ambit of tax, a drone survey was required. However, the drone survey required permission from the Ministry of Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), Government of India. For this permission Commissioner Shekhar Singh followed up with the central government from time to time. His efforts were successful. So now the entire city has been started to be surveyed by drones. It has become the first municipal corporation in the state to carry out drone surveys with official permission from the central government.

More than 2 lakh properties will come under tax ambit

An experienced agency Sthapatya Consultants India Pvt Ltd has been appointed for the drone survey. At present, the Municipal Corporation has only 30 to 50 cm resolution satellite images of the city available. However, after the drone survey, a satellite image of 5 cm resolution will be available. Hence, no new construction, new property will be hidden from the ambit of property tax. In the Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation, it will be possible for the municipal administration to increase its income on a large scale by bringing under the scope of property tax about two lakh new properties that have not yet been assessed.

Property information will be available on one click

Various types of information have been made available to the Municipal Corporation through various activities. By integrating this information, the Municipal Corporation is trying to make the necessary information available to the citizens through a single app. Efforts are being made to provide the benefits of modern technology to every citizen. Property survey by drone will be important in this regard. The information will also be conveyed to other departments including tax collection to provide service benefits to the citizens.

The municipal corporation has conducted a survey of the properties in the city earlier. However, for the first time, the survey of properties has been started using drones. This survey will lead to great success in finding additional properties, changes in use, new properties.

The tax collection department of the Municipal Corporation is the main source of income. Therefore, since I took charge of this department, I have implemented various new experiments and technologies to increase the income of the municipal corporation. That is why, last year, for the first time in the history of the municipal corporation, it was able to collect a tax of 977 crores. Now, after the drone survey, the preliminary estimate is that about two lakh new properties will come under the tax ambit. Therefore, it is believed that the municipal corporation will earn 1.5 thousand crores rupees tax in the future – Nilesh Deshmukh, Assistant Commissioner, Tax Collection and Taxation Department.