T’gana govt to launch common billing system to boost revenue

THe Telangana regime has decided to innovate a mutual billing scheme crossways all districts to boost local body revenues, people familiar with the development said on Tuesday.The system envisages combining water, electricity, and property tax bills into a single payment system. As a first step, the state government will implement the plan within the limits of Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation as a pilot project.“A similar model is being adopted in cities like Mumbai and Bengaluru. It will help the citizens play the three bills on a single platform,” an official of the GHMC said.The decision to introduce a common billing system for electricity, water supply and property tax payments was taken at a meeting convened by chief minister A Revanth Reddy on January 12. It was followed by a follow-up meeting held by the special chief secretary, municipal administration and urban development with all the municipal authorities in the state.GHMC commissioner R V Karnan, in a circular issued to all the deputy commissioners and zonal commissioners of the corporation last week, said as per the directions of the special chief secretary, it was decided to conduct a door-to-door survey to map the mobile phone numbers of property owners linked to the Property Tax Identification Number (PTINs) with that of Telangana southern power distribution company limited (TGSPDCS).The exercise began across Hyderabad on Monday with GHMC bill collectors and TGSPDCL meter readers commencing a joint survey, to link electricity consumer mobile numbers with GHMC property tax identification numbers.“The data will be uploaded through handheld devices to enable integration across departments. Once a customer registers a mobile number on the GHMC portal, bills related to property tax, water and electricity will be displayed together,” the official said, adding the entire exercise would be completed by February 15.The government has already developed a dedicated mobile app and will launch it after the chief minister’s review of the pilot survey.According to the official, the GHMC covers about 19.4 lakh property tax assessments. It is estimated that nearly 93,000 commercial buildings pay residential property tax while using commercial electricity meters. Another around 70,000 buildings remain outside the tax net.“By bringing these properties under the correct tax category, officials expect to collect nearly ₹600 crore. Overall, the GHMC aims to raise up to ₹3,000 crore through improved assessment and enforcement. Based on results in Hyderabad, the government plans to expand the system statewide,” he added.