The Kolkata Municipal Corporation has launched a property tax waiver scheme offering private property owners relief of up to 99 per cent on interest and penalties, according to a report by Anandabazar – Kolkata. The scheme is intended to recover long-pending dues from 386,288 taxpayers and will remain in force until March 2027, with a possible two-month extension.
The announcement was made at a press conference by municipal administrator and commissioner Smita Pandey after Chief Minister Shuvendu Adhikari announced the initiative, the report said. The scheme covers both residential and commercial properties, subject to specified conditions. Government properties will receive a 100 per cent waiver, while eligible private properties can receive up to 99 per cent relief.
The municipal corporation has set a collection target of Rs 784 crore through the scheme. Taxpayers who clear their outstanding property tax within the specified period will be eligible for concessions on accumulated interest and penalties. The interest calculation has been taken up to September, according to the commissioner as quoted in the report.
Applications can be submitted online by scanning a QR code. The corporation has also retained an offline process for taxpayers who are not comfortable using digital services. The arrangement is significant for the city’s municipal finances because property tax is a recurring source of revenue used to support civic administration and local services.
The report said that Kolkata currently has 386,288 taxpayers with outstanding property tax. It cited municipal figures putting the outstanding tax demand at Rs 6,854.29 crore, with penalties of Rs 401.38 crore and interest of Rs 3,314.13 crore. However, the same report gives a combined figure of Rs 3,138.76 crore, which does not reconcile with the individual amounts stated. This discrepancy requires confirmation from the Kolkata Municipal Corporation before the figures can be treated as established.
The waiver is not the corporation’s first attempt to use concessions to recover arrears. A similar scheme was introduced in 2020, and the latest initiative follows several years of accumulated dues. The corporation’s stated objective is to encourage taxpayers to settle older liabilities by reducing the additional financial burden created by interest and penalties.
The timing has also prompted political criticism. Opposition parties have alleged that the scheme, introduced at the beginning of October ahead of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation election expected in the last week of November, could provide an advantage to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party. The report attributes the allegation to opposition parties; it does not provide a response from the ruling party in the supplied material.
The corporation has also raised the issue of server performance during the rollout. Pandey said the matter was being examined on a trial basis and that no action would be taken on the server issue until clearance was received. The implementation details, final arrears figures and operational status of the online system remain subject to confirmation from the municipal authority.
