To introduce a uniform system of collecting property tax, the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) has decided to implement the Unit Area Method (UAM) of collecting property tax from April this year.

Once UAM is implemented, old commercial setups and offices working in areas like Connaught Place will have to shell out more money as property tax. Other commercial establishments may pay more or same amount of property tax.

While self-owned properties will be charged less property tax than rented properties, bungalow owners in Lutyens' Delhi also may have to pay more tax. The civic body has amended the property tax bye-laws and has presently issued a public notice inviting objections and comments from tax payers before implementing it across the board.

While the Municipal Corporation of Delhi(MCD)has already switched over to UAM, NDMC was charging property tax on the basis of the rateable system of calculating property tax. Under this system, property tax is calculated on the basis of the estimated rental value of a property.

According to NDMC officials, the new system will ensure that all properties in the same neighborhood are charged under the same property tax rate. "There is a formula which is to be multiplied by factors which have been defined for each locality based on infrastructure facilities, services and age of the property,soitbecomes uniform for all properties in the same locality," said NDMC's tax director Anurag Goel. "The base value of a property in NDMC area has been set at Rs 1,000 per square meter of built up area," he added.

Since the current system depends on the perceptive rent rate which may vary from property to property, officials believe that this will be a better method.

While there will be an increase in service tax paid by government properties on the basis of current circle rates established by the government, the civic body has also written to the Urban Development Ministry for approval.

Officials claim that the department has ensured that the revenue collection does not get affected.