Chennai Corporation to cover 1,10,262 properties for reassessment under Phase 1

The Chennai Corporation has taken up first phase of reassessing properties that have been identified based on changes in area, measurements and usage (for example, commercial to residential)

The Chennai Corporation has taken up first phase of reassessing properties that have been identified based on changes in area, measurements and usage (for example, commercial to residential). Two more phases will follow.

Using geographic information system, Darashaw and Company Pvt. Ltd, identified 3,10,139 potential properties that are being assessed through drone surveys that generate two dimensional images. Field-level revenue staff inspected and measured 30,899 properties, leaving 2.79 lakh properties to be assessed. Each property has been identified with a GIS ID, making it simpler to record changes in tax, a civic official said.

The first phase aims to cover 1,10,262 properties and work has been divided between the Corporation and three contractors and is expected to be completed in the next two months. Reassessment involves re-measuring the properties and this is still done manually using tape.

The three contractors are Prime Meridian Surveys Pvt. Ltd, Arul Nambi Engineering Consultant and Arasu Associates who are handling 28,646, 27,161 and 26,621 properties respectively, leaving the major chunk of properties – 27,834 to the Corporation.

Work began in April and so far, 17,962 of the total properties in phase one have been completed. However, property tax reassessment for these properties is still under way and owners will be notified soon. According to the official, phase two, which is expected to be smaller, will cover around 80,000 properties and the remaining will be included in phase three.

The reassessment of property tax is expected to boost the civic body’s collection for the current and following financial years by an estimated ₹250 crore to ₹300 crore.