The Telangana government has proposed introducing a new bill to replace the seven-decade-old Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) Act to regulate civic administration in Hyderabad, in view of the massive expansion in the capital region over the years, officials familiar with the development said on Monday.
A draft of the proposed legislation — the Telangana Core Urban Area (Integrated Governance) Bill, 2026 (CURE Bill) — was uploaded on the GHMC website on Sunday, where citizens and other stakeholders have been invited to submit suggestions and comments.
According to a senior GHMC official, the GHMC Act, 1955, though amended from time to time, is no longer suitable for an urban area that has expanded beyond the old city limits.
“Hyderabad has grown from a city of about 15 lakh people in the 1950s to an urban agglomeration of nearly 1.3 crore people, with several civic agencies sharing responsibilities for planning, roads, water supply, transportation, disaster management and public services. The new bill seeks to bring these functions under an integrated governance framework,” the official said.
The proposed legislation seeks to create an integrated governance framework covering the three municipal corporations created after the recent government reorganization of the enlarged city of Hyderabad – Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC), Cyberabad Municipal Corporation (CMC) and Malkajgiri Municipal Corporation (MMC) – while allowing for decentralized governance at the corporation level.
The government has invited citizens, resident welfare associations, industrial bodies, urban planners and other stakeholders to submit their suggestions till July 24 through the websites of the concerned civic bodies before the final legislation is tabled in the state legislature.
One of the major reforms proposed in the bill is to replace the annual property tax system based on rental value with a capital value system. Under the proposed system, property tax will be calculated based on the government market value of properties used for registration purposes rather than their rental value.
Since market values are much higher than rental values, which have remained largely unchanged for years, the move is expected to significantly increase property tax collections, officials said. It is estimated that the tax liability could nearly double for many property owners.
To limit the immediate financial impact, the revised tax structure will be implemented in phases for existing buildings, while all new buildings will be subject to the capital value regime from the outset.
The bill also proposes several other tax reforms, including self-assessment of the property tax, the introduction of an integrated property identity law, discounts for timely payment of property tax, incentives for sustainable or environmentally friendly buildings, and the elimination of archaic fees such as the octroi tax and the dog tax.
To improve coordination among various agencies, the bill proposes to establish several statutory bodies for functions such as protection of public assets and lakes, traffic management, road safety, disaster management, conservation of heritage structures, and climate action.
The draft legislation also formally integrates HYDRAA into the department’s framework, giving it responsibility for protecting lakes, banks and government lands while outlining coordination mechanisms with other agencies.
It is also proposed to include a transgender person as a member of municipal authorities to improve representation in local government. The bill also removes some outdated and outdated election disqualification provisions.
