The residents of Tambaram Corporation, who were already burdened by the arbitrary revision of the property tax in 2022, have another shock to negotiate with the latest revision of piped water and underground drainage tax rates.

The revised tax structure had come into effect from January 2026 with the passing of the Government Order through the Chengalpattu district on September 24, 2025.  

V.S. Jayaraman, a resident of Chromepet, said normally for a two-bedroom apartment in Chromepet, the Tambaram City Municipal Corporation has been levying water charges of ₹50.50 per month, but from April this year, the Corporation, without any prior intimation to consumers, has revised the charges to ₹150.50 per month. The three-fold revision in the water charges has shocked the residents.

Mr. Jayaraman said that normally any revision of such sort should be made only after consultation with various stakeholders — residents, traders, and commercial establishments. However, implementing the three-fold increase without any public discussions shows the autocratic manner the local body was functioning in.

While the new water tax bill being charged in Tambaram Corporation has come as a shock to the residents, the residents have been complaining of a huge hike in the property tax which was revised in 2024. 

Social activist Dayanand Krishnan, who had done a comparative study of the property tax charged by the Tambaram Corporation with the Chennai Corporation, has found that the tax rate has been done in an arbitrary manner, that there has been a hike of nearly 615%.

Mr. Krishnan said that for a 1,500 sq. ft. flat in Chitlapakkam, the half-yearly tax rate under the town panchayat was ₹1,733, whereas the new tax charged is ₹12,398. He said that not even in Anna Nagar was this kind of property tax being collected, he added.  

The residents complained the property tax has been arrived at in a manner based on the localities of high commercial potential zones. If a commercial property is located on the GST Road, it is charged at a rate of ₹32 per sq. ft. irrespective of whether the place it is located either in Tambaram or Chromepet. 

A senior official of the Tambaram Corporation said the property tax rates were being levied based on the tax rates proposed in the Government Order issued in 2022.