Property tax sop for business spaces if free parking offered: Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation

Ahmedabad: To streamline traffic in Ahmedabad and reduce the pressure from unauthorized roadside parking, the AMC launched a special initiative under the ‘Comprehensive Policy 2026 to Transform Traffic, Parking, Encroachment, Road Safety and Cattle Management Across the City’.Recognizing that the cooperation of commercial establishments is crucial for effectively resolving the city’s traffic problems, the AMC has devised special measures to incentivize these units.Under this initiative, commercial units that make their parking spaces available to citizens free of charge will receive a property tax exemption equivalent to the specific area designated for parking.According to the AMC, allowing citizens access to private parking spaces will reduce the parking load on roads and help ease traffic congestion in the city. A circular containing instructions about this initiative has been issued by the AMC.The benefits of this scheme will apply to shopping malls, theatres, video parlours, miniplexes, multiplexes, hotels, party plots, community halls, gymnasiums, hospitals, social organizations, and educational institutions.All non-residential units located on national highways, ring roads, and state highways will also benefit.To avail themselves of this tax exemption, commercial units must not levy any type of parking fee for their parking facilities. Additionally, they must fill in the required details and provide consent to open their parking spaces to citizens via the ‘Parking Availability and Sharing Consent Form’ available on the corporation’s official website.Furthermore, the total parking area available must be specified in the form according to ECS (Equivalent Car Space), where 1 ECS = 2.5 × 5.5 = 13.75 sq m.A person must be appointed to manage the parking system, and this person will be required to log parked vehicles in the AMC’s official AmadaPark application so that motorists can receive real-time information on parking availability.Along with this, directional signage and parking bays must also be compulsorily installed.The AMC has clarified that if any commercial unit charges a fee for parking, does not give consent to make the parking spaces available to citizens, or fails to use the AmadaPark application, it will not be eligible for the property tax exemption.Commercial units that do not wish to avail of the tax exemption must apply through the Self-Assessment Module on AMC’s official website within 60 days to ensure that property tax is assessed at the prescribed rate.