Led by property tax mop-up, MCD FY23 revenue inches up

The MCD’s internal revenue for 2022-23, till March 29, is 0.09% higher than that in the pre-pandemic financial year of 2019-20.

The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) has shown signs of improvement in internal revenue for the financial 2022-23, having collected ₹7,389 crore (till March 29) against the full year target of ₹11,280 crore.

While the collection is marginally higher (0.09%) than that in the pre-pandemic fiscal of 2019-20 till the same date, MCD officials said the final figures — to be collated after March 31 — will give a complete picture of whether the internal revenue would hit a three-year high.

At ₹2,038 crore, property tax comprises a major portion of the total mop-up. This is 24.81% higher than the civic body’s collection in 2019-20, which was at ₹1,633 crore (till March 29). The property tax collection target for FY23 was ₹3,850 crore.

“We usually see a rush on deadline day [March 31] and there is an ongoing amnesty scheme for property tax. This internal revenue is not something the MCD can solely depend on to pay salaries and pensions, but it is an improvement since we are closer to the figures achieved before the pandemic,” said an MCD official.

Apart from property tax collections, income under advertisement, parking and conversion charges account for ₹814 crore of the total revenue. Toll tax collection has fetched the civic body ₹771.43 crore – marginally below its target of ₹786 crore.

Among the MCD zones, each being a cluster of wards, Rohini has come out as the best performing for property tax collection, followed by Shahdara South and City Sadar Paharganj (SP) zones.

The Rohini and City SP zones were earlier under the jurisdiction of the erstwhile North Delhi Municipal Corporation, while Shahdara South zone was part of the erstwhile East Delhi Municipal Corporation.