Mumbai: Govt departments and public authorities owe the BMC more than Rs 3,000 crore in property tax dues and the civic body has managed to recover only Rs 243 crore from them over the past five years, information shared by the BMC under the Right to Information (RTI) Act has revealed.The data was provided by the civic body in response to an RTI query filed by civic activist and advocate Godfrey Pimenta, who had questioned why “honest taxpayers should bear the burden” while govt bodies continue to default on property tax payments.According to the reply dated Dec 12, 2025, property tax arrears owed by the state and Central govts and various authorities under their jurisdiction stood at Rs 3,283 crore as of Oct 31, 2025. The defaulters include agencies such as Mhada, Indian Railways and other state- and Centre-run bodies. In its response, the BMC stated that demand notices have been issued to these authorities under Section 202 of the Mumbai Municipal Corporation Act, 1888.However, recovery has remained slow, with only Rs 243 crore collected from these govt entities in the past five years. The civic administration said that repeated correspondence has been sent to the state and central govts by the deputy chief accountant (finance) and concerned departments seeking clearance of the dues. “Follow-ups are carried out through periodic meetings with the relevant authorities to recover the outstanding arrears,” the BMC added in its reply.When contacted, civic officials confirmed the pending dues and said that they are following up with the concerned agencies. “However, our teams have been working hard to ensure that recoveries are also done in case of defaulters,” said an official.Pimenta, though, pointed out mounting arrears from govt bodies put additional pressure on civic finances and could lead to increased tax burden on individual citizens.For the BMC, property tax is the biggest revenue source currently. In the year 2024-25, the civic body collected property tax of the tune of Rs 6,198 crore. If a property owner in Mumbai fails to pay the tax, the BMC can initiate recovery proceedings under the Mumbai Municipal Corporation Act, beginning with the levy of interest and penalties on the outstanding amount and the issuance of demand and reminder notices.
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