Bengaluru: BBMP has proposed to introduce a new formula to standardise property tax for parking spaces in residential and commercial properties. The civic body has, however, claimed this won’t increase the overall property tax burden. A draft notification in this regard was issued on March 29, inviting the public’s suggestions and objections. But with only a seven-day window to submit feedback, many residents and civic activists believe the consultation is a mere formality.
BBMP’s property tax assessment is based on unit area value (UAV), which is calculated as rupees per square feet per month based on the expected returns from the property depending on location and usage. The property tax component for closed and stilted parking spaces in both residential and commercial properties was fixed at 50% of the UAV based property tax for the area.
In it latest proposal, BBMP has given a go-by to the UAV method and said the component will be calculated at Rs 2 per sqft per month for residential properties and Rs 3 per sqft per month for commercial properties.
For a parking area of 150 sqft in a residential property, the proposed property tax would be 20% of Rs 2 x 10 months x 150 sqft, which equals Rs 600. The same for a commercial property will be 25% of Rs 3 x 10 months x 150 sqft, which equals Rs 1,125. According to Munish Moudgil, special commissioner (revenue), BBMP, the change proposed will largely bring down the property tax and not increase it. However, the seven-day window for consultation has left citizen activists doubtful about the civic body’s intentions. Activist Rukmini Rao criticised the move, saying: “BBMP has already decided to implement this from April 1. The short window for objections shows that citizens’ opinions aren’t truly valued.”
The proposed tax changes for parking areas come on the back of BBMP’s budgetary announcement to allow stilt floors of up to 4.5 metres without including them in the overall building height calculation. Earlier, this limit was 2.5 metres. The move, announced in BBMP’s 2025-26 budget, aims to promote multi-level mechanical parking within residential and commercial properties and reduce on-street vehicle congestion.
Special commissioner (finance) Harish Kumar, during the budget announcement, said, “To tackle the issue of vehicles parked on roads, BBMP has increased the permissible stilt height to 4.5 metres while excluding it from overall building height calculation. This will encourage multi-level mechanical car parking within premises, which will be treated as a single parking unit.”
Moudgil defended the move, emphasising its objective to curb roadside parking. “This will be implemented from April 1 and is expected to significantly improve traffic flow and road-widening projects in Bengaluru,” he said.
Will it result in higher tax?
Residents are seeing the new stilt parking policy and the property tax proposal for parking areas as part of the civic body’s common strategy.
Rajesh Kumar, a resident of Sarvagnanagar, said, “This is just another way for BBMP to squeeze more money out of citizens. We’re already paying high property taxes, and now they want us to install a mechanised parking system at our own cost. Why can’t they provide incentives if they truly want to encourage this?”
On the other hand, Vinod Mehta, a commercial property owner in Whitefield, supported the move: “It makes sense to charge for parking space. Many homeowners misuse stilt areas for storage instead of parking. If this policy ensures proper use of parking spaces, it’s a step in the right direction.”