Visakhapatnam: Demanding reinstating of house tax policy and scrapping of the property tax policy, representatives of Visakhapatnam Apartment Residents’ Welfare Association (VARWA) carried out a dharna at GVMC Gandhi statue in Visakhapatnam on Wednesday. The representatives released a pamphlet listing their demands and they said that they will be distributed in all the apartment complexes in residential colonies to raise public awareness.

“We appeal to the state government to discontinue the property tax survey. Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu assured that a review would be made regarding the property tax and it should be implemented,” stressed president of VARWA N Prakash Rao.

A number of petitions have been sent to the Chief Minister from the Resident Welfare Associations in the city requesting the abolition of the property tax.

On Wednesday, the VARWA team sent 300 more petitions and later submitted a memorandum to Mayor Peela Srinivasa Rao. The Chief Minister instructed the municipalities and corporations in the state to collect an additional 20 per cent property tax through a survey of properties in the towns. Accordingly, the municipal administration department issued a circular on the May 14th. Changing the house tax system to the property tax system resulted in an increase in the tax over the past five years.

The house tax paid in 2021 was converted to property tax which led to a hike to an extent of 100 per cent by April 2025. “Chandrababu Naidu promised during the elections that he would review property tax if he came to power. We have been waiting for the Chief Minister’s orders to review the tax system as promised. However, it is now understood that reviewing actually means increasing it by at least 20 per cent. This is very unfair,” BB Ganesh, general secretary of VARWA, lamented. General Secretary NIVAS P Narayana Murty along with other members Hari Prasad, BA Trinadha Swamy, Bangaru Naidu and Kumar Mangalam appealed to the government to intervene and withdraw the property tax survey that imposes additional burden on common people.