New property tax mgmt system may bring 90K more properties under LMC’s watch

Lucknow's new property tax management system aims to identify unassessed properties, expanding the tax base and ensuring fair assessments for all.

The implementation of a new property tax management system (PTMS) will significantly expand the municipal tax base as thousands of previously unassessed properties are likely to be detected once the system becomes fully operational, Lucknow Municipal Corporation officials anticipated.

A bird’s-eye view of Lucknow (File)

At present, Lucknow Municipal Corporation (LMC) relies largely on manual surveys and older software for property tax assessment. While a GIS survey identified around 8.39 lakh buildings across the city, municipal records currently list only about 7.50 lakh properties. This gap of nearly 90,000 structures points to a substantial number of buildings that are either under-assessed or completely outside the tax net.

Officials believed the rise in tax net will also be due to the inclusion of 88 newly added villages in the expanded municipal limits. With these areas taken into account, the total number of properties in the city is expected to reach 10 lakh.

The PTMS, which is being introduced as part of the Smart City initiative, is designed to create a comprehensive and accurate digital database of all residential and commercial properties. By integrating Google-based mapping and verified area measurements, the system will make it difficult to misrepresent a building’s size or usage.

“Under the current system, there have been many complaints of discrepancies. In some cases, smaller houses were shown as having larger covered areas, while residential properties were wrongly classified as non-residential, leading to inflated tax assessments,” said Ashok Singh, LMC’s chief tax assessment officer. “PTMS will ensure that every property’s correct data is available on a single platform, visible not only to senior officials but also to monitoring authorities.”

Once PTMS is rolled out, each property will be linked to a unique digital record showing ownership details, area, category, assessed tax, and payment history. The initiative is part of a larger state-wide reform. From the next financial year, the urban development department plans to launch the PTMS in all 17 municipal corporations in Uttar Pradesh.

For taxpayers, the new system promises easier access to information. By integrating Google Maps, property owners will be able to view their properties online along with complete house tax details, reducing dependence on municipal offices and minimizing disputes.

“Detecting more properties is not just about increasing revenue; it is about ensuring fairness, where everyone pays what they are actually supposed to pay,” Singh added.