Site allottees in Bengaluru jolted by steep property tax hike in some BDA layouts

A file image of the Nadaprabhu Kempegowda Layout (NPKL), between Magadi road to Mysuru road, developed by Bangalore Development Authority (BDA).
| Photo Credit: MURALI KUMAR K

Site allottees of Nadaprabhu Kempegowda Layout (NPKL) were shocked to find that property tax for 2025-26 had seen a steep hike in the range of 9% and 50%, which they realised only when they went to the BDA website to pay their taxes recently. While site allottees of other BDA layouts also reported marginal hikes, it appears to be steeper in NPKL. 

“Property tax for a 30×40 site in our layout was ₹834 and has now shot up to ₹1,208. For a 50×80 site, the hike has been almost 50%,” said A.S. Surya Kiran, of NPKL Open Forum. However, Shivaprakash, one of the allottees of Arkavathy Layout said there has been no significant increase in property tax for sites in the layout. An allottee from Sir M. Visvesvaraya Layout also said while the property tax in their layout had seen a hike, it was not steep. 

Calcuations based on guidance value

A senior BDA official said that the Authority calculates property tax based on guidance value and the property tax would have increased if the guidance value in the area has seen a significant hike. 

Given that the guidance value of properties in Bengaluru was revised on October 1, 2023 after a gap of five years, property tax should have seen a hike for 2024-25 itself. However, last year the property tax saw no change due to Lok Sabha elections in April-May 2024, and had been done this financial year, sources said. 

While the guidance value at NPKL was ₹2,000 per sqft earlier, it was revised to ₹2,900 in October 2023, reflected in a steep hike in property tax. However, guidance value of properties in other layouts did not see significant jumps, sources said.

“While we have been fighting the BDA for eight years and recently in Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA) and Petitions Committee of the state legislature, to ensure we get basic amenities so that we can build our houses in the layout, BDA has been only hiking taxes on us,” Mr. Surya Kiran rued.