The Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) has introduced a property tax waiver scheme offering up to 99 per cent relief on penalties and substantial reductions in accumulated interest, as the civic body seeks to recover dues from 386,288 defaulters across the city.
The scheme, approved by the West Bengal government, has been introduced under the Kolkata Municipal Corporation Incentive (Waiver of Interest and Penalty to the Property Tax Payers) Scheme, 2026, according to a report citing KMC officials. It will remain effective until March 2027 and may be extended by a further two months if required, KMC administrator Smita Pandey said.
For properties containing both residential and commercial units, the civic body will waive 80 per cent of accumulated interest and 99 per cent of penalties. For commercial properties, the interest waiver will be 70 per cent, while the penalty waiver will remain 99 per cent.
The waiver will be available for six months from the date on which the scheme is notified. Taxpayers will also be permitted to clear their dues in six monthly instalments, giving property owners an alternative to making a single lump-sum payment.
KMC data cited in the report puts the total outstanding property tax at Rs 6,854.29 crore. This includes penalties of Rs 401.38 crore and accumulated interest of Rs 3,314.13 crore. The principal amount outstanding has been placed at Rs 3,138.76 crore by the municipal commissioner.
Government properties will receive a 100 per cent waiver, Pandey said. The decision follows a proposal sent by the civic body to the state secretariat at Nabanna, which approved the plan and cleared the way for its implementation.
The scale of the arrears makes the scheme significant for KMC’s revenue collection. The civic body’s collection is reported to be below its targeted level, and the waiver is intended to encourage defaulters to settle the principal dues while reducing the additional burden created by penalties and accumulated interest.
The scheme’s immediate public impact will depend on the formal notification, the start date of the six-month waiver window and the process through which taxpayers can calculate and pay their revised dues. KMC is expected to implement the waiver and instalment provisions after issuing the notification.
