SAMARTH Panchayat Portal: Dhamtari Becomes First District to Collect Property Tax Online

Key facts

• Dhamtari district in Chhattisgarh has become the first in India to launch online property tax collection through the SAMARTH Panchayat portal.
• The digital initiative was rolled out at Sankara gram panchayat in Nagri block, making it the first gram panchayat in India to establish an end-to-end digital payment system.
• The system allows rural citizens to pay taxes from their homes using a Unified Payments Interface (UPI) linked online payment gateway.
• The initiative is being implemented across nearly 400 gram panchayats in Dhamtari to simplify administration and reduce pending tax arrears.
• The Union Ministry of Panchayati Raj (MoPR) Secretary, Vivek Bhardwaj, stated that the system provides gram panchayats with an independent source of revenue to promote financial self-reliance.