Residents across the city have started receiving misleading information about property tax rebate for senior citizens offered by Chennai Corporation.

The message read: “In Chennai, the Senior Citizens Discount on property taxes is a concession offered by the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) to senior citizens who own properties in the city.”

T.Nagar resident V.S.Jayaraman said he received a message on WhatsApp about discount in property tax for senior citizens. According to the social media post, the eligibility criteria for the senior citizens discount was: the property owner must be a resident of Chennai, be 60 years or older, own a residential property in Chennai and occupy the property as their primary residence. “Many residents could not verify whether the information was true or not. They were circulating it owing to the delay in verification. After finding the news was fake, I asked the person not to circulate it on WhatsApp. However, it is true that senior citizens want a rebate on property tax,” said Mr. Jayaraman.

T.Sadagopan, president of Tamil Nadu Progressive Consumer Centre, said he received information on WhatsApp about the discount of 10% to 20% on property tax. “Residents who shared it are retired officials of the government. The fake news about rebate for senior citizens might be because of frustration among senior citizens who are paying more property tax. Rebate will be useful for senior citizens who constitute 60% of property owners. For more than 50 years the senior citizens availed themselves of train concession. The Government of India has stopped train concession for senior citizens after 2020. All senior citizens are frustrated,” said Mr. Sadagopan.

Chennai Corporation Commissioner J.Kumaragurubaran said the news on social media about rebate in property tax for senior citizens was false.

Chennai Corporation Deputy Mayor M.Magesh Kumaar said the information about property tax rebate on social media was fake news and the civic body has not proposed to allow rebate for senior citizens.