Full waiver of interest, penalty: BJP-ruled MCDs announce property tax amnesty scheme

The BJP-ruled civic bodies in the national capital today announced an amnesty scheme, including full waiver of interest and penalty, on payment of property tax till February 28 next year.

The scheme was announced by the mayors of South, North and East Delhi Municipal Corporations.

Payment of property tax dues after February 28 till March 31 next year will get full waiver on penalty and 50 per cent rebate on interest amount. The waiver on penalty and interest will be given on arrear amounts accumulated up to November 18.

The decisions were taken by the respective standing committees of the SDMC, NDMC and EDMC and the mayors' anticipation approvals for the same have been given by them which is considered as approval by the House concerned, a municipal corporation officer said.

The scheme will be applicable to all types of properties, including, residential and commercial. The waiver will be available for assesses who have not paid property tax prior to April 1, 2004 and thereafter, said Shailender Singh Monti, chairman of SDMC standing committee.

"It has been launched in view of the huge backlog of dues over the years. Many tax payers including some government agencies expressed problems in paying the dues along with significant amount of interest and penalty," he said.

As per official estimates, the North Delhi Municipal Corporation has around 10 lakh properties but only 3.32 per cent property owners pay tax, an NDMC official said.

Similarly, the East Delhi Municipal Corporation (EDMC) has around nine lakh properties while taxes are realised from around 25 to 30 per cent owners, said the proposal accepted by the standing committee for amnesty scheme.