What is Delhi SAMRIDDHI Scheme?

October 27, 2022

Delhi Lieutenant-Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena launched the SAMRIDDHI 2022-23 scheme on October 26.

Key facts

SAMRIDDHI is short for Strengthening and Augmentation of Municipal Revenue for Infrastructure Development in Delhi.
It is implemented from October 26 to March 31, 2023.
It is a one-time property tax amnesty scheme for both residential properties as well as commercial properties.
Under this scheme, residential property owners can pay just the principal property tax amount of the current and past five fiscal years (FYs 2017-18 to 2021-22) and get a 100 per cent waiver of interest and penalty on the outstanding tax amount.
The commercial property owners can pay the principal amount of the last six years (FYs 2016-17 to 2021-22) and get a waiver on the past pending dues, including penalties and interest incurred before 2016-17.
If the taxpayer fails to settle his tax dues by March 31 of next year, he will be liable to pay all tax dues with penalties and interests since 2004 or whichever year the property tax has been pending.
Coercive measures will be taken to collect the pending tax dues from April 1, 2023.
If a taxpayer already paid property taxes but has not been recorded in MCD tax data, he will have to submit proof of payment for it to be updated in the database.
In case the principal, interest, and penalty have already been paid before the scheme was launched, they will not be reassessed or reopened.
The scheme aims to encourage property owners to eliminate long-pending property tax disputes and related harassment.
It creates a win-win situation for the government and taxpayers as the tax liability waiver will increase money in the hands of taxpayers and the revenue source for the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD).
Increased revenue for MCD would mean that the civic body will be able to implement the much-needed infrastructure projects that will improve service delivery for the residents of Delhi.
It will expand the tax base and enable MCD to build a strong tax database by enforcing long-pending tax overdue.