Uttar Pradesh is employing modern technology include GIS (Global Information System) to plug revenue collection gaps in the state urban local bodies.
Looking to make the local bodies financially self dependent, the state urban development department is nudging them to adopt technological tools to increase their kitty.
GIS is a computer-based information system for capturing, storing, manipulating, analysing and displaying both spatial and non-spatial data to solve complex research, planning and management problems.
It is a system of hardware and software that performs these activities on the information about the areas of the earth.
Following these steps, the revenue collection of 17 municipal corporations in UP surged 33 percent to Rs 3,100 crore in financial year 2023-24 compared to the tax and non-tax revenue of Rs 2,340 crore by 17 municipal corporations in 2022-23.
These included municipal corporations in Lucknow, Kanpur, Varanasi, Ghaziabad, Agra, Gorakhpur, Prayagraj, Aligarh, Meerut, Jhansi, Ayodhya, Mathura, Bareilly, Saharanpur, Shahjahanpur, Moradabad and Firozabad.
Lucknow and Kanpur topped the revenue chart with Rs 904 crore and Rs 534 crore respectively, followed by Ghaziabad, Prayagraj and Agra.
The various revenue heads comprise property tax, rent, penalties pertaining to issues like single-use plastic ban, food van/canteen user charges etc.
The Yogi Adityanath government, through the state urban development department, upgraded online portals and mobile applications to streamline property tax collection and bill payments.