Power tariff, property tax hike soon: CM KCR

Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao on Friday announced that power tariffs and property taxes in the State will be hiked soon, but assured that people from underprivileged sections will not be burdened with the hikes.

Stating that the hike was necessary to provide better services to people and for development of villages and towns, the Chief Minister urged the people to bear the hike burden for development of their villages and cities.

Speaking during a short discussion on ‘Palle Pragathi’ in the State Assembly here, the Chief Minister said the TRS government does not want to keep people in the dark and make false promises. “We need to increase taxes to provide better governance and services to the people. 

We do not want to keep people in the dark with regard to hike in power tariff and property taxes. At the same time, power tariff will not be hiked for underprivileged sections such as Dalits and tribal people. Tax hikes will be imposed only on those who can afford to bear the burden,” he asserted.

The Chief Minister said



people will be involved in governance and tax collections since they will have to issue a self-declaration towards property tax collection in urban and rural areas. “Thus, there will be no harassment for bribes and no scope for irregularities. However, inspection of these properties will be conducted and if there are any violations, a fine that may go up to 25 times the property tax will be imposed and up to two years imprisonment will be given as per the new Panchayat Raj as well as the new Municipal Acts,” Chandrashekhar Rao warned.

Both power tariff and property tax had not been increased since the formation of Telangana State in 2014. However, the State government has been supplying quality power to all sectors including agriculture, domestic, commercial and industry without interruption. Without increasing property taxes, the local bodies have been effectively implementing citizen-centric services and creating necessary infrastructure including roads, water supply, underground drainage, street lighting and other facilities, the Chief Minister said.