Akola civic body must recover Rs 262 crore in property tax in the remaining five months

Akola Municipal Corporation faces a major challenge in property tax recovery. In the remaining five months of the current financial year, it has to collect Rs 262 crore in property tax. In the first seven months of the year, the corporation has managed to collect only Rs 21.12 crore. The administration will have to work hard to reach the target.

Property tax is an important source of income for the corporation. A target of about Rs 80 crore is set every year. But full recovery is not achieved every year, so crores of rupees in tax remain unpaid. As a result, the outstanding amount is rising by the day, and about Rs 203 crore in property tax is now due.

The corporation runs an Abhay Yojana from time to time to recover the arrears. Under the rules, 2 per cent a month is added to unpaid tax, which means the interest keeps growing along with the original tax. Even so, recovery under the Abhay Yojana is not going beyond 50 per cent.

In 2025-26, the corporation had to collect Rs 80.69 crore in current tax and Rs 127 crore in arrears, a total of Rs 207.69 crore. In the current financial year, Rs 13.55 crore has so far been collected as current tax, while Rs 21.12 crore has come in as arrears.

Recovery over the seven months has been very low, and conditions in the city are one reason. Akola is facing a severe water shortage, and people are getting water supply once in ten days. Corporation staff going out to collect tax are facing questions from residents. There is anger over a basic service such as water, which is making it difficult for the administration to collect tax by force.

In these circumstances, Akola Municipal Corporation faces a big test: recovering Rs 262 crore, current and arrears together, in the remaining five months.