About Property Tax

DIGIT-Property Tax (PT) is a self-serve web and mobile-based, easy-to-use and configurable product that addresses the objectives of municipal corporations and local government to automate all property tax operations, thus providing property tax assessment and payment services to citizens in real-time.

Key Features

• Manage property database

• Various payment options available to citizens to make payments from their convenient places

• Auto-generated defaulters’ list and real-time online tracking

Section Overview

This section contains all docs and information required to understand the PT module, its key features, functional scope, and configuration details. Click on the links below to learn more about deploying, configuring, customizing, and using the PT module.

• Functional Specifications

• PT Roadmap

• PT User Manual

• Product Brochure

• PT Workflows

• Master Data Configuration Template

• PT Service Configuration

• Implementation Handbook

• Demo Script

Contact Us

Reach out to us through any of the below-mentioned contact channels for any assistance or additional information on PT module deployment.

DIGIT-Property Tax (PT) is a self-serve web and mobile-based, easy-to-use and configurable product that addresses the objectives of municipal corporations and local government to automate all property tax operations, thus providing property tax assessment and payment services to citizens in real-time.

All content on this page by eGov Foundation is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Introduction

DIGIT Property Tax facilitate ULBs and citizens to automate the assessment/ re-assessment of property tax for a property and its demand billing and collection. It also enables the ULBs as well as citizens to process the transfer of title of a property in case of a sale, gift or will and captures the history of ownership.

Module Features

The main features of the product are as given below.

1. Completely automated assessment and re-assessment of property tax against a property.

   1. Online self-assessment process

   2. Integrated workflow for ULB staff to perform the check and approve.

2. Transfer of title (Mutation)

   1. Online application

   2. Integrated workflow for ULB staff to perform the check and approve.

3. Generating the demand

4. Collection of property tax through various modes (Cash, Cheque, POS (Credit/ Debit Card), NEFT/RTGS, Online - Through Payment Gateway)

5. Auto calculation of rebate, interest and penalty.

Module Ontology

State Level

1. Property Type

2. Property Sub Type

3. Property Usage Major

4. Property Usage Minor

5. Property Usage Sub Minor

6. Property Usage Detail

7. Construction Type

8. Ownership Category

9. Ownership Sub Category

10. Owner’s Special Category

11. Special Category Documents

12. Road Type

ULB Level

1. Unit Rate

2. Tax Rate

3. Interest Rate

4. Penalty Rate

5. Rebate Rate

6. Mutation Fee

Module Reports

1. Receipt Register

2. Cancelled Receipt Register

3. Demand Register

Introduction

The request to change in owners associated with a property in municipal record is known as mutation or transfer of title. To process this request and make the necessary changes in the property records ULBs charge for a fee which is calculated based on the fee defined based on a few parameters.

Data Table

Procedure

Data Definition

Steps to fill data

1. Download the data template attached to this page.

2. Refer to the ‘Data Definition’ section of this document to understand the headers in the template sheet, their data type, size, and definitions.

3. Reach out the person who shared the template for further details or to clear your doubts. Identify if the State/ULB has a provision for capturing pipe size for connections.

4. Identify usage wise mutation fee amount and fill into the given template.

5. Go through the checklist to verify the data. Make sure that each and every point mentioned in the checklist is covered.

Checklist

Common Checklist

This checklist covers all the activities which are common across the entities.

Entity Specific Checklist

Not Applicable

Attachments

Configuration Data Templateconfigurable-data-template-mutation-fee_v1.xlsx - 10KB

Introduction

Taxes are calculated based on the type of property and differ for each type.

For example, a residential property could have a different rate than a non-residential property, which could differ from year to year.

The tax could be a general property tax or a new type of tax introduced.

Data Table

The data given in the table is sample data.

Procedure

Data Definition

Steps to fill Data

1. Download the data template attached to this page.

2. Get a good understanding of all the headers in the template sheet, their data type, size, and definitions by referring to the ‘Data Definition’ section of this document.

3. In case of any doubt, please reach out to the person who has shared this template with you to discuss and clear your doubts.

4. Gather the details for all the types of properties and the type of taxes levied on them.

5. Start filling the type of tax and the property type from the first column and then start defining the rates and year of application.

6. Verify the data once again by going through the checklist and making sure that each and every point mentioned in the checklist is covered.

Checklist

The checklist is a set of activities to be performed once the data is filled into a template to ensure data type, size, and format of data is as per the expectation. These activities have been divided into 2 groups as given below.

Common Checklist

This checklist covers all the activities which are common across the entities.

Entity Specific Checklist

Not Applicable

Attachments

Introduction

Rebate is provided on early payments which are done in month April in every financial year at the rate of 5% when the property is paid fully up to prevailing financial year demand.`

Data Table

Procedure

Data Definition

Steps to fill Data

1. Download the data template attached to this page.

2. Get a good understanding of all the headers in the template sheet, their data type, size, and definitions by referring to the ‘Data Definition’ section of this document.

3. In case of any doubt, please reach out to the person who has shared this template with you to discuss and clear your doubts.

4. Get the rebate rate and the amount involved with it.

5. Get the year and the end date for the rebate period.

6. Start filling the template from the right which is the rebate percentage and end it with the rebate end date.

7. Verify the data once again by going through the checklist and making sure that each and every point mentioned in the checklist is covered.

Checklist

The checklist is a set of activities to be performed one the data is filled into a template to ensure data type, size, and format of data is as per the expectation. These activities have been divided into 2 groups as given below.

Common Checklist

This checklist covers all the activities which are common across the entities.

Entity Specific Checklist

Not Applicable.

Attachments

Configuration Data Templateconfigurabe-data-template-rebate-v1.xlsx - 9KB

Sample Dataconfigurable-sample-data-rebate-v1-1-.xlsx - 9KB

All content on this page by eGov Foundation is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Introduction

This is the amount which is calculated on percentage defined and collected from citizen if failed to pay the property tax demand on time. It is also called the late payment penalty.

Data Table

The data given in the table is sample data.

Procedure

Data Definition

Steps to fill Data

1. Download the data template attached to this page.

2. Get a good understanding of all the headers in the template sheet, their data type, size, and definitions by referring to the ‘Data Definition’ section of this document.

3. In case of any doubt, please reach out to the person who has shared this template with you to discuss and clear your doubts.

4. Get the interest rate that is being levied over a period of time.

5. Get the year as well as the date from which this was brought in place.

6. Start filling the data from the interest rate followed by the rest of the details.

7. Verify the data once again by going through the checklist and making sure that each and every point mentioned in the checklist is covered.

Checklist

The checklist is a set of activities to be performed once the data is filled into a template to ensure data type, size, and format of data is as per the expectation. These activities have been divided into 2 groups as given below.

Common Checklist

This checklist covers all the activities which are common across the entities.

Entity Specific Checklist

Not Applicable

Attachments

Introduction

Unit rates are also an important part of property tax. The property tax for a property is calculated on the area covered by the property. These unit rates could differ from ULB to ULB, Ward to Ward, Mohalla to Mohalla and then can be based on different parameters such as Road Type, Property Construction Type etc.

Data Table

The data given in the table is sample data.

Procedure

Data Definition

Steps to fill the data

1. Download the data template attached to this page.

2. Get a good understanding of all the headers in the template sheet, their data type, size, and definitions by referring to the ‘Data Definition’ section of this document.

3. In case of any doubt, please reach out to the person who has shared this template with you to discuss and clear your doubts.

4. Figure out on what boundary types are the property tax unit rates being defined and start filling that with its code and its name in English in the boundary code and boundary code name column.

5. In case there are more parameters on which the unit rates are being classified such as road type, construction type is being classified, start making a different column for the same starting from parameter 1, parameter 2…

6. Make sure you replace the column name from parameter 1 to the classification on which it is being classified.

7. At the end fill up the unit rates column.

8. Verify the data once again by going through the checklist and making sure that each and every point mentioned in the checklist is covered.

Checklist

The checklist is a set of activities to be performed once the data is filled into a template to ensure data type, size, and format of data is as per the expectation. These activities have been divided into 2 groups as given below.

Common Checklist

This checklist covers all the activities which are common across the entities.

Entity Specific Checklist

Not Applicable

Attachments

Introduction

This is a further sub-classification of the ownership which details what is the ownership sub category, whether there is a single owner, multiple owner etc. . An example has been given in the attachments section of the page.

Data Table

The data has to be collected for all the subcategories of ownership type present in the state. Below mentioned is the table of the template that is being used to gather data:

Procedure

Data Definition

Steps to fill Data

1. Download the data template attached to this page.

2. Get a good understanding of all the headers in the template sheet, their data type, size, and definitions by referring to the ‘Data Definition’ section of this document.

3. In case of any doubt, please reach out to the person who has shared this template with you to discuss and clear your doubts.

4. Download the data template attached to this page.

5. Get a good understanding of all the headers in the template sheet, their data type, size, and definitions by referring to the ‘Data Definition’ section of this document.

6. In case of any doubt, please reach out to the person who has shared this template with you to discuss and clear your doubts. First, get all the sub classifications for the listed category.

7. Get the codes and start filling the template.

8. Fill in the codes for the sub category in the 2nd column with the proper mapping of Ownership Type category (Parent level).

9. Repeat the steps for all the ownership type categories(Parent Level).

10. Verify the data once again by going through the checklist and making sure that each and every point mentioned in the checklist is covered.

Checklist

The checklist is a set of activities to be performed once the data is filled into a template to ensure data type, size, and format of data is as per the expectation. These activities have been divided into 2 groups as given below.

Common Checklist

This checklist covers all the activities which are common across the entities.

Entity Specific Checklist

This checklist covers the activities which are specific to the entity.

Attachments

Introduction

The penalty is defined as an amount which is charged to the citizen in violation of any rule. There would be multiple penalties defined associated with different rules and acts. Penalty rate decides on how and what amount to be calculated for a penalty.

Within DIGIT, the calculation of the penalty amount is configurable at both the State & ULB level.

Data Table

Procedure

Data Definition

Steps to fill Data

1. Download the data template attached to this page.

2. Get a good understanding of all the headers in the template sheet, their data type, size, and definitions by referring to the ‘Data Definition’ section of this document.

3. In case of any doubt, please reach out to the person who has shared this template with you to discuss and clear your doubts.

4. Identify all the different types of penalty amounts (by percentage/ by a flat amount) etc and fill them in the provided columns respectively.

5. Fill in the details of the financial year/ date from which the type of defined penalties will be applicable.

Checklist

The checklist is a set of activities to be performed one the data is filled into a template to ensure data type, size, and format of data is as per the expectation. These activities have been divided into 2 groups as given below.

Common Checklist

This checklist covers all the activities which are common across the entities.

Entity Specific Checklist

Not Applicable

Attachments

Introduction

The Usage category could be more detailed out on classifying them further and detailing more specifically on what kind of usage it is such as hotel, shops, community centre etc.

Data Table

Below mentioned is the definition of the template which is used in data gathering:

The data given in the table is sample data.

Procedure

Data Definition

Steps to Fill Data

1. Download the data template attached to this page.

2. Get a good understanding of all the headers in the template sheet, their data type, size, and definitions by referring to the ‘Data Definition’ section of this document.

3. In case of any doubt, please reach out to the person who has shared this template with you to discuss and clear your doubts.

4. Gather all the details for this last classification of Usage Category Detail.

5. Figure out the codes, if not present abbreviate the description so that it creates relevancy between code and description.

6. Get the relations to the sub minor, minor and major.

7. Start filling the template with the codes and description of the usage Category detail and then followed by relative sub minor codes.

8. In the active column fill up whether the category is still active or not.

9. Verify the data once again by going through the checklist and making sure that each and every point mentioned in the checklist is covered.

Checklist

The checklist is a set of activities to be performed on the data that is filled into a template to ensure data type, size, and format of data is as per the expectation. These activities have been divided into 2 groups as given below.

Common Checklist

This checklist covers all the activities which are common across the entities.

Entity Specific Checklist

This checklist covers the activities which are specific to the entity.

Attachments

Configuration Data Templateconfigurable-data-template-usagetypedetail-v1.xlsx - 10KB

Sample Dataconfigurable-sample-data-usagetypedetail-v1.xlsx - 10KB

Introduction

The Property Tax System(PT) provides a digital interface to make property assessments, pay property tax, generate payment receipts and monitor tax collection. It can be used by the citizens, Urban Local Body (ULB) counter and field employees and ULB Administrators to accomplish their specific tasks. It is available as a mobile and web-based application.

Functional Scope

The PT product features can be broadly classified as the following modules:

1. Registration, Login and Creation of User Profile

2. Filling an Assessment for a Property

3. Searching for a Property

4. Modifications to a Property

5. Generate Demand Notice

6. Payments collection and Receipts

7. Dashboards and Reports

8. General Features

Registration, Login and Creation of User Profile

Filing For Property Assessment

With this feature, a citizen and employee can perform a self-assessment of a new property for a financial year. This feature helps in registering the property in the system. The details of the property can be entered online and can be assessed for the calculation of the taxes.

The PT Product is designed in a user friendly manner and reduces chances of error. System calculates the tax automatically and creates the demand. If a user wants to reassess his property due to any reason (for eg, incorrect data, change in property etc), it can be done by editing details of the last assessment.

An employee can edit the details of the last assessment, on behalf of the citizen-based on the owner’s input. Citizen can track down the status of his incomplete assessment. Any incomplete assessment can be searched and completed.

Searching for a Property

Citizen or Employee can track down the status of his incomplete assessment. Any incomplete assessment can be searched and completed.

Modifications to a Property

The PT system provides the ability to capture mutation and transfer of ownership. It reduces interfaces between the user and the State and thus promote greater transparency. It also helps in reducing the time taken for mutation after registration. The system provides the ability for alteration of assessment after verification and inspection. Any structural changes like addition/extension/reduction of existing built up area or construction type OR utility changes like usage or occupancy have an impact on the increase/decrease in property tax demand. These changes can be handled by the ‘Additional/Alteration of Assessment’ feature.

The System provides the ability for bifurcation/ amalgamation of property. The property bifurcation/ amalgamation undergoes an approval process. The parent property needs to be modified accordingly, which can be done in the system.

Generate Demand Notice

System has the capability to automatically generate demand notice for a financial year based on set triggers like time-based roll over on completion of a financial year. The system notifies the citizens about the demand through SMS/Email. The generated Bills can also be grouped and printed for physical distribution by the ULB employees. The system provides the capability to Employees to merge and download bills based on given parameters to plan their distribution drives.

Payments collection and Receipts

The citizen/ employee can view payment status of previous assessments from Assessment History section. Payment for any assessment with full or partially paid amount can be completed. Receipts for assessment can be downloaded in Assessment history section after searching for the property details.

Reports and Dashboards

PT reports provides facility to access receipt register, cancelled receipt register, account receipt register, ULB wise PT collection report, DCB Register. All reports can be downloaded in PDF/XLS format.State level administrator can monitor property tax collections, assessments and other information at a state level through dashboards.

General Features

System specification in compliance with the Ease of Doing Business (EODB) BRAP 2019

List of Features- Property Tax

Introduction

The Owner’s Special Category represents those property owners whose property belongs to the “reserved” category as defined by the state. These special categories are entitled to a rebate in the property tax amount, as per the defined categories by a State/ ULB.

Data Definition

The data given in the table is sample data.

Procedure

Steps to fill data

1. Download the data template attached to this page.

2. Get a good understanding of all the headers in the template sheet, their data type, size, and definitions by referring to the ‘Data Definition’ section of this document.

3. In case of any doubt, please reach out to the person who has shared this template with you to discuss and clear your doubts.

4. Identify the “Owner Categories” that exists at a ULB/ State level.

5. Add the “Owner Type Code” respectively.

6. Add a description to the Owner Type Name, as per the required language.

Checklist

The checklist is a set of activities to be performed once the data is filled into a template to ensure data type, size, and format of data is as per the expectation. These activities have been divided into 2 groups as given below.

Common Checklist

This checklist covers all the activities which are common across the entities.

Entity Specific Checklist

This checklist covers the activities which are specific to the entity.

Attachments

Configuration Data Templateconfiguration-data-template-pt-master-3-.xlsx - 10KB

Sample Dataconfiguration-sample-data-pt-master-3- (1).xlsx - 15KB

Introduction

Ownership is the state or fact of exclusive rights and control over property, which may be an asset, including an object, land or real estate, or intellectual property. Ownership involves multiple rights, collectively referred to as title, which may be separated and held by different parties. Further, the ownership can be categorised based on the nature and type of the parties property is owned by e.g Property owned by an individual who is the resident of the city, by an institution etc.

Data Table

Given below is the sample data table from the template in which the data has to be collected:

Procedure

Data Definition

Steps to fill Data

1. Download the data template attached to this page.

2. Get a good understanding of all the headers in the template sheet, their data type, size, and definitions by referring to the ‘Data Definition’ section of this document.

3. In case of any doubt, please reach out to the person who has shared this template with you to discuss and clear your doubts.

4. Firstly Identify all the categories of the owners present in the state.

5. After which identify the codes of all the categories, if not present then form an abbreviated version of the code.

6. Start filling the template with the codes in the second column, its English name in 3rd and Local Language name in 4th.

7. Verify the data once again by going through the checklist and making sure that each and every point mentioned in the checklist is covered.

Checklist

The checklist is a set of activities to be performed once the data is filled into a template to ensure data type, size, and format of data is as per the expectation. These activities have been divided into 2 groups as given below.

Common Checklist

This checklist covers all the activities which are common across the entities.

Entity Specific Checklist

Not Applicable

Attachments

Configuration Data Templateconfiigurable-template-pt-ownershiptype.xlsx - 8KB

Sample Datasample-configurable-data-pt-ownership-category.xlsx - 9KB

Overview

This section covers the principles eGov will be following for migrating legacy property registry along with demand and collection balances to the DIGIT system (currently in Uttarakhand but can be used for other clients in future). eGov has been successful in implementing property tax applications in states of Andhra Pradesh, Punjab and various other Municipal Corporations like Greater Chennai, Nagpur and so on using best practices defined here.

Entry Criteria

The state team is supposed to take care of the below activities before property data is shared to eGov for data migration:

1. State team to share all master data and its localization that are part of the property tax. For example masters like - city, boundary, usage type, property type and so on

2. State team to do the data gathering and prepare the property tax data in the predefined template shared by eGov

3. Data prepared needs to be scrutinised by the data owner from the State’s team. Following data validations to be considered in particular:

   1. Validate if all sheets have accurate records (owner details, property details and DCB details, Floor details) in terms of what is expected

   2. DCB details can be more than the number of records in the property sheet

   3. There can be multiple owners for a single property. But there needs to be an owner and DCB for each of the properties

   4. Have a check on all mandatory data present

   5. All sheets to be aligned with the unique id field

4. The state has to share the complete set of property data for a city in a single go. They can also give one set for residential properties and another for commercial properties, but cannot give multiple sets for the same.

5. Data owner to give a sign off on data before handing over to eGov team

6. State team to be aware of assumptions and default values that will be applied as part of the data migration process. This will be shared by the eGov team

7. UAT and production environment where the data is to be loaded to be provisioned and set up

Principles

Step 1 - Data cleansing

1. Data received from the State team will be cleansed by eGov with default values

   1. Mandatory fields that have no financial impact on citizens can be filled with default values in the absence of values specified by the State team. Few examples are listed below -

      1. Covered areas can be updated as 0

      2. Road type as 12 meters

      3. The number of floors can be updated as 1

   2. Certain fields that have a financial impact can also have default values like tax amount in the absence of values specified by the State team. (It can be updated as Rs.1)

   3. If the mobile number is blank, a dummy mobile number will be updated. Care will be taken to ensure that this is not an actual mobile number and this number will be removed from notifications. Dummy numbers can be something like 99999xxxxx where the first few dummy numbers in a state will be 9999900001, 9999900002, 9999900003 so on.

2. Follow the below assumptions to do data cleaning

   1. If the mobile number and user name combinations are duplicating we will consider these properties belong to the same owner. This means one user will be created in the system which will have a link to two properties.

   2. Have a marker if any assumptions and default values are applied on a record

   3. Certain data are currently not assumed or defaulted. Below listed are a few cases -

      1. Owner details completely not available for a property - If complete owner details are missing, these records to be kept in the not to be migrated list.

      2. If DCB is not there or given for a range of years - since there are a lot of use cases here, we can keep this record in the not to be migrated list

      3. Duplicate old property id - leave the data as it is and then edit it later using the data entry screen

      4. If boundary data is not present or data not aligned with the master data shared - update to a default mohalla which the state agrees to

      5. Door number is not present - update the value as “door number”

      6. Owner Name blank in the owner details sheet - update the value as “owner”.

Step 2 - Data Load on UAT

1. Load the records using property migration kit to UAT server

2. Prepare a list of all passed and failed property records and share them back with the State team. Passed records along with values defaulted will be shared.

3. If the State team wants eGov to retry all failed records they are expected to come back with the revised data within one week.

4. Repeat Step 1 for revised records received from the State team.

5. The final status of the data load will be shared with the State team.

Step 3 - Move data to Production

1. State team to verify data loaded on UAT server and provide a sign off for each of the ULBs within 1 week

2. On getting sign-off of UAT data, eGov will load that data to production using the migration kit used for loading to UAT instances. This can be done only if the production infrastructure is ready.

3. Get sign off on the production data before the application can be made live.

References

Communication Mechanism

Communication for data migration exercise can be split into the following stages:

There will be a SPOC from the State team who is the data owner who will share data with the eGov team. Excel sheet data will be put on google drive and shared with the project manager from eGov. Similarly, all communications from the eGov side to State will be routed through the project manager.

1. Pre-migration

   1. A demo of how PT module works - State + ULBs

   2. Product fitment discussion, configurable data finalization and sign off - State

   3. An overview of how data migration works - State + ULBs

   4. Sharing the template (along with checklists and FAQs) in which we will collect data and type of data required against each field along with training - State + ULBs

   5. Sharing assumptions which will be followed while migrating data - State + ULBs

2. During migration

   1. Data inconsistencies observed in Data cleaning stage - State

   2. Gaps needed to complete data migration (like mohalla mapping) - State

   3. List of records which will be migrated as-is and the ones which will be migrated with assumptions - State

3. Post-migration

   1. List of properties migrated without error - State

   2. List of properties migrated with error for ULBs manual entry - State

   3. UAT Sign-off document - State + ULB

   4. Final confirmation post migration on Production - State + ULB

Way Forward

1. All failed records from the second pass will be manually entered into the system using data entry screens

2. The state has to make a mandate to collect property tax only using DIGIT.

3. All records with assumption markers or incorrect data can be updated by counter employees when citizens come for payment. Maybe this option can be given to the citizen when coming for online payment.

4. When a citizen is coming for making his payment, the counter operator can check if their property exists in the system using propertyid or mobile number. If it is found to be missing, it can be captured afresh in the system using the data entry option. All required information can be obtained from the citizen, either from previous year receipts that they carry or directly asking them.

5. With this approach, a ULB can go live with 90% of property data within a short time.

Data Mapping Template

Introduction

The Construction Type refers to the list of Building construction types in the ULB limits considered for tax calculation.

DIGIT Property Tax system has certain pre-defined categories namely :

• Pucca

• Semi Pucca

• Kuccha

Data Table

The data described in the above table is a sample.

Configuration Data Templateconfiguration-data-template-pt-master.xlsx - 10KB

Sample Dataconfiguration-sample-data-pt-master.xlsx - 15KB

All content on this page by eGov Foundation is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Introduction

Roads are constructed in order to facilitate the locomotion of people from a place to another.

The roads constructed in a state are classified into certain categories which could be on the basis of the width of the road, construction material or the function and location. Road type is one of the primary factor defining the unit rates and hence configuration is needed for the DIGIT module in order to describe the property and what are the taxes it could attract.

Data Table

Given below is the sample data table from the template in which the data has to be collected:

Please note that the values mentioned in the data table are sample values and the states are free to add/update according to their specific requirements.

Configuration Data Templateproperty-tax-roadtype_template_v1.xlsx - 9KB

Sample Datasample_data_propety-tax_road_type.xlsx - 9KB

All content on this page by eGov Foundation is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Executive Summary

Overview of the Product

The computerized and automatic Property Tax system offered by eGov, facilitates citizens who seek to pay their Property Tax within any Urban Local Body with a transparent, speedy, hassle-free and user-friendly procedure. Property Tax (PT) is one of the components of a smart city that has the capability of providing the highest revenue of a state. Keeping in mind the benefits associated with the product offered, the proposed system is about to be implemented in 500+ ULBs across the country in 15 states. (For details on product features refer to Section-2)

Implementation Methodology for PT

For the offered product, the implementation process can be divided into seven major distinctive stages. Each stage has a predefined entry and exit criteria, roles & responsibilities to assure objective monitoring and decision making for the overall success of the engagement. The whole implementation lifecycle is typical of 38-42 weeks for the State, keeping in mind the entry, and exit criteria defined at the beginning and end of each stage are met on time recommended.

Stage Zero-program setup and onboarding is a pre-requisite for the initiative to kick-off and requires setup of the governance model, implementation Team and decision regarding other significant elements of the initiative like funding and procurement process. Stage One requires scoping of the initiative and decisions on the priorities for implementation by the State Implementation Team. In stage two, the State Team will work upon identifying and finding solutions to the significant gaps in the product offered with respect to the need of the State. Configuration and customization of the product offered is the primary objective of stage four. This involves working on various aspects of State-specific needs and incorporating them into the product offered. In stage five, post doing UAT and including all the necessary feedback on the product, the roll-out of the product is done at the State level (Go Live) from a couple of ULBs to pan State coverage in batches. Finally, in stage 6 sustenance and ongoing improvements are worked upon while the product is already functioning in the State. (For details on implementation plan refer to Section-3)

Critical Success Factors for implementation

Implementation of Property Tax (PT) requires meticulous planning and close coordination between various stakeholders at the center and State level. The success of the initiative is dependent upon many factors like strong Program governance, availability of the trained resource, financial planning, targeted Implementation Team onboarding, focus on last-mile capacity building and ensuring necessary support to Urban center. Achievement of all these factors will provide the most effective and efficient roll-out and adoption of the Property Tax System in the State.

Property Tax (PT) Product - Overview

The Property Tax System(PT) provides a digital interface to make property assessments, pay property tax, generate payment receipts and monitor tax collection. It can be used by the citizens, Urban Local Body (ULB) counter and field employees, and ULB Administrators to accomplish their specific tasks. It is available as a mobile and web-based application. The PT product features can be broadly classified as the following modules:

1. Registration, Login and Creation of User Profile

2. Filling an Assessment for a Property

3. Searching for a Property

4. Modifications to a Property

5. Generate Demand Notice

6. Payments collection and Receipts

7. Dashboards and Reports

8. General Features

Module 1: Registration, Login and Creation of User Profile

This module provides enables the following capabilities

• OTP Based Login for Citizen via Web/Mobile App

• OTP Based Login for Employee via Web/Mobile App

• Provision for language selection during first time registration for both Employee and citizens

• Provision of creating a personalized Profile for Citizens and employees on Web App

• Login Credentials for various hierarchy of employees

• Role based access for performing different actions relating to property tax modules

Module 2: Filing an Assessment for a Property

With this feature, a citizen and employee can perform self assessment of a new property for a financial year. This feature helps in registering the property in the system. The details of the property can be entered online and can be assessed for calculation of the taxes. The PT Product is designed in a user friendly manner and reduces chances of error. System calculates the tax automatically and creates the demand. If a user wants to reassess his property due to any reason (for eg, incorrect data, change in property etc), it can be done by editing details of last assessment. Employee can edit the details of the last assessment, on behalf of the citizen based on owner’s input. Citizen can track down the status of his incomplete assessment. Any incomplete assessment can be searched and completed.

This module provides enables the following capabilities:

• Citizen/CSC can Assess New Property (By Different Financial Years).

• Citizen/CSC can Capture Address, Assessment Info, Owner Info.for all types of properties like residential houses, flats and commercial buildings.

  • Sample Details captured:

• Door Number,

• Mutation number,

• Number of floors,

• Area covered,

• Owner and co-owner,

• Mailing & permanent address,

• Built year

• Individual room measurements

• The system computes the property taxes automatically as per process and rules of the state.

• The system has a facility to make entry in system by inspector after site visit and assessment of the same by the superintendent.

• The system supports dynamic calculation for late fees, interest, rebates, etc. as on the day of demand generation.

• The system fetches the data of previous year property data while e-filing for current year so that all the dues are calculated.

• The system assigns a unique property ID based on the process defined in the ULBs.

• Citizen/CSC : View/Print Summary of Filled Form

  • Assessment Form

  • Assessment Form is also sent by email to citizen

• Upload Documents

  • Ownership/Title related

  • ID Proof

  • Any other statutory documents

Module 3: Searching for a Property

Citizen or Employee can track down the status of his incomplete assessment. Any incomplete assessment can be searched and completed.

This module provides the following capabilities:

• Citizen/CSC can search for Property by

  • Mobile No,

  • City,

  • Property Tax Unique ID

• Citizen/ CSC can view Incomplete Assessments

• Citizen/CSC can reassess Searched Property

• View Property details and pending dues

Module 4: Modifications to a Property

The PT system provides the ability to capture mutation and transfer of ownership. It reduces interfaces between the user and the State and thus promote greater transparency. It also helps in reducing the time taken for mutation after registration. The system provides the ability for alteration of assessment after verification and inspection. Any structural changes like addition/extension/reduction of existing built up area or construction type OR utility changes like usage or occupancy have an impact on the increase/decrease in property tax demand. These changes can be handled by the ‘Additional/Alteration of Assessment’ feature. The System provides the ability for bifurcation/ amalgamation of property. The property bifurcation/ amalgamation undergoes an approval process. The parent property needs to be modified accordingly, which can be done in the system.

This module provides the following capabilities:

• Mutation of property and change of ownership details

• Capture Extension/ Addition and Alteration and reassessment based on changed property details

• Bifurcation of property

• Amalgamation of property

Module 5: Generate Demand Notice

System has the capability to automatically generate demand notice for a financial year based on set triggers like time-based roll over on completion of a financial year. The system notifies the citizens about the demand through SMS/Email. The generated Bills can also be grouped and printed for physical distribution by the ULB employees. The system provides the capability to Employees to merge and download bills based on given parameters to plan their distribution drives.

This module provides the following capabilities:

• Generate Demand Notice based on periodic basis

• Group Demand Notices

• Print Demand Notices

• Cancel Demand Notices

• Send notifications to citizens on demand generation- SMS, Whatsapp, Email, Physical bill

Module 6: Payments collection and Receipts

The citizen/ employee can view payment status of previous assessments from Assessment History section. Payment for any assessment with full or partially paid amount can be completed. Receipts for assessment can be downloaded in Assessment history section after searching for the property details.

This module provides the following capabilities:

• Payment of Property Tax -Online, Cheque, Cash, DD, during assessment

• Partial Payment of Property Tax -Online, Cheque, Cash, DD, during assessment

• The system allows a citizen to pay for anyone's property without changing the demand

• The system can also be integrated with PoS machines to enable doorstep collection of property tax and issue of receipt.

Module 7: Reports and Dashboards

PT reports provides facility to access receipt register, cancelled receipt register, account receipt register, ULB wise PT collection report, DCB Register. All reports can be downloaded in PDF/XLS format. State level administrator can monitor property tax collections, assessments and other information at a state level through dashboards.

This module provides the following capabilities:

• State Dashboard : View Reports for Total Collections, Properties Assessed, ULBs on Prod, Usage Type, Payment Distribution

• State Dashboard : PT Collection Timeline (Monthly,Weekly)

• State Dashboard : ULB Wise (Collection, Assessments)

• Cancelled Receipt Register Report

• PT Collection Report (ULB/Date Wise)

Module 8: General Features

Notifications

The system has the capability to send notifications to citizens. These notifications can be sent for various steps like - assessment completion, payment reminder, payment confirmation. These notifications can be sent in the language chosen by the ULB through all channels - SMS, Whatsapp, Email.

Legacy Data Migration

The system has the capability to migrate Demand and Collection. In most states, the preliminary step would be to migrate Legacy data of existing properties/connections along with the Demand and Collection details. This would ensure that subsequent demand generation happens through the system.

Configurable Masters

The system provides the following masters that can be configured as per the State’s requirements:

• Charges & Calculation : Calculation Engine, Rebate, Penalty,

• Rate Master

• State Masters : Property Ontology, Documents List, Employee Data Mapping, Boundary Data Mapping

Property Tax (PT) Implementation Methodology

This section provides an overview of the methodology for State-wide implementation of PT. The Implementation of PT is distributed across seven distinct stages. Each stage has a predefined entry & exit criteria and roles & responsibilities. This is to ensure objective monitoring and decision making for the overall success of the program. Details of each stage are defined in this section.

Note: This document is specific for States that have more than 30 ULBs

PT implementation program is expected to be completed approximately between 38- 42 weeks depending on the variety in Processes, Integration and the Disparate legacy data systems involved. This is done with the resource deployment by the State and System Integrator (SI) Team. However, it is critical that activities and exit criteria set for each stage are achieved to adhere to this timeline.

Seven Stages of Implementation

Stage 0 - Program Setup/Onboarding

This is a set of initial critical activities undertaken on receiving a letter of Enrollment or MOU from the State. Successful completion of these activities assures that the program is started with crucial personnel, System Integrator(SI) Teams, and funds.

*Details of PT cell is mentioned in section 4 of the handbook

System Integrator(SI) Sign-up

• System Integrator and state will agree on program scope, program timelines, and budgeting & resourcing.

Stage 1 - Program Kick-Off

This stage envisages in-person interaction of crucial State officials and implementation System Integrator(SI) Teams to kick-start the program. This stage may require multiple interactions/meetings with different interest groups. The principal objective of these interactions is to identify and agree on the scope and exclusions of Pilot ULBs, create an active collaboration & Governance approach and agree on a high-level timeline for the engagement.

*Details of PT cell is mentioned in section 4 of the handbook

Stage 2 - Solution Design

During the Solution design stage, key State officials and members, who are subject matter experts, are expected to share their inputs, discuss the process and help understand how to bring in compliance around the system design for the System Integrator(SI) Team. This stage baselines the State-specific product features in the Product Configuration report.

Stage 3 - Configuration & Customization

This stage consists of a series of developments in accordance with the detailed project plan to ensure smooth functioning of the customised product. Master Data Collection & Environment Setup will be achieved in this phase. Further monitoring and maintenance strategies are put in place.

Stage 4 - UAT & Go Live

During this stage, demonstration of the product followed by a hands on session is conducted for the ULB officials. Necessary training of ULB officials and resources required for UAT is conducted and identified respectively. The establishment of the State support Team and required processes are initiated in this stage.

Stage 5 – Rollout

On successful Go-Live in the Pilot ULBs, and further fine tuning to stabilize the product, the solution will be rolled out to the rest of the ULBs in phases. Guidance and support from the State Team will be required to create the rollout plans and assure the necessary infrastructure for training and deployment is available at each ULB.

Note: The rollout phase needs to be detailed out for iterative activities of onboarding ULBs in batches.

Note: Only once all the stages are complete in one batch of rollout of around 30 ULBs, the next batch begins. There are multiple phases of rollout. The second batch begins after the first batch has successfully fulfilled all the criteria of the Rollout Phase. Typical timeline for closure of rollout in each batch is 5-6 weeks (in a batch of 30 ULBs)

Stage 6 – Sustenance and Ongoing Improvement

The final stage consists of strategies to ensure the sustenance of the program in the State. Systems are put in place to ensure the continuous tracking of data and provisions are made to improve the product if new data suggests.

Roles and Responsibilities

PT Cell, eGov Team & System Integrator(SI)Team

This section outlines the activities involved in each stage of the implementation along with responsibility and accountability of critical stakeholders - State, eGov Team and System Integrator Team onboard.

PT Cell: PT Cell is the government-appointed body chaired by the Principal Secretary/Secretary, Urban Development Department with members from Urban Development Department etc.

Resource requirements for the PT cell required to be formed by the State

Note:

• Designations mentioned above are in accordance with those already driving PT implementation at the State level.

• The description of each designation is explained below.

• Project Head: Is the Head of the PT Cell who will drive the project from the State’s Side

• Domain Expert: Person who is well aware of the on ground scenario, well versed with the act, GOs passed, Prevalent Business processes, Deviations from the acts, PT Rates/ slabs applicable. In addition, provisions may be made to include External Domain Consultants/Advisors.

• Nodal officer (EO/Commissioner/ Senior Official): the product coordinator to drive the project centrally. Monitor usage post Go Live- point of escalation for Implementation Team, Seasoned and worked in Multiple ULBs on various modules and has a good understanding of PT, Facilitate and Track data collection Post Go Live, Monitors and facilitates adoption of application. Point of contact for Management team, SI and at the HQ level.

• MIS Expert: Data Preparation for ULBs,Day to day tracking of the data specific to ULBs, data collection/validation for correctness and comprehesiness, reporting and review to senior officials

eGOv Team: eGov Team is the technical partner of the project which will provide all necessary support to the State/UT concerning the implementation, Program Designing etc.

System Integrator (SI)Team: SI Team will be responsible for consulting, program management and the implementation of the state specific customized and configured products in the ULBs in close collaboration with the PT cell, technical partner (eGov) and various other stakeholders.

Guidelines to read the tables below:

Execute - One who owns the accountability to complete the activity

Consult - One who may initiate, guide and in the process, handhold the execution of the activity

Note: Stage 0 is where the PT cell and SI team is formed, hence there are only two entities playing a role which is that of eGov and the state leadership. Once the PT cell and SI team is finalised, their role begins in the following stages.

Overall Program Assumptions