Citizens flags discriminatory property tax in Cyberabad
HYDERABAD: A few weeks after the city’s administrative reorganization, The Citizens Council, a citizens’ advocacy group, has raised concerns about discriminatory property tax calculations and is calling for an urgent review of the century-old GHMC Act.
The Citizens Council, Cyberabad, has written to Chief Minister Revanth Reddy to highlight disparities in tax assessment methods between the original GHMC areas and the newly merged regions now comprising the Cyberabad Municipal Corporation.
In its representation, submitted by Founding Chairman Sitaram Dhulipala, the Council notes that after the merger of Manikonda Municipality into GHMC in December 2025 and its reorganization into the new Corporation in February 2026, residents now face a significantly higher tax burden.
According to the Citizen Council, the core issue is a dual taxation methodology. Properties in the original GHMC areas are taxed using the traditional Annual Rental Value (ARV) method, while those in the newly merged Cyberabad Corporation areas are assessed based on market value or the guideline value set by the Registration Department.
Further Sitaram Dhulipala said, Because of this, two similar properties in the same city area are taxed at different rates. The Citizens Council says that people in the merged areas pay almost two to three times more in property tax, which they believe goes against the idea that taxes should be fair for everyone.
Seeks review of GHMC act
The Citizen Council further explains that the gap between the actual market value paid by purchasers and the government’s guideline value for the same area increases the inequity. Citizens who register properties at full market value face a higher tax burden, while those registering at lower guideline values pay less.
“This structural flaw encourages undervaluation and penalizes honest citizens, which is against the spirit of a digital economy and transparent governance,” said Dhulipala.
Besides the current tax problems, The Citizens Council has asked for a review of the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) Act, 1955, before any new laws are made. They say the Act was made for a different time and does not have the clear rules needed to manage the new three-part structure of Hyderabad.
Further, they emphasize that this review should have preceded the merger to avoid current complications. The Council now urges urgent policy intervention to establish jurisdictional clarity and a uniform governance framework.
The Citizens Council, Cyberabad, has officially asked the Chief Minister to set up a group of experts to review the GHMC Act, 1955, make sure the same property tax rules are used in all three corporations, fix the way property values are set so there is no gap between market and government values, and protect people in the new areas from unfairly high taxes.
