Not paying your property tax can land you behind bars for a period of seven years now. The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) has launched am amnesty scheme under which tax defaulters can clear their dues without having to pay a penalty or the interest amount. But those who fail to pay the tax by October will not only face penalties like sealing of bank accounts and attachment of property but may also be jailed for a period of seven years.

Said mayor Kanwar Sain: "The 30% penalty will be waived off for those paying property tax dues before October 31. In addition to this, 1% interest levied every month on unpaid amount will not be charged from them. The amnesty scheme will be open from Tuesday to October 31.'' For the scheme, the civic agency has constituted special teams in all the 12 zones and the property tax headquarter at Lajpat Nagar.

"Under the scheme, all the property tax payers in the city will get a special identification number similar to Permanent Account Number from the civic agency. In future, the facility will be extended to other property owners too,'' added Sain.

The agency said that in future, property owners who submit pay the tax will get benefit in getting the building plan sanctioned. The mayor said the MCD will collect tax from property owners in unauthorized colonies, about whose status there was some confusion till now.

Survey of India is currently determining the number of property owners who are not in the tax net of the civic agency. According to MCD, only nine lakh people pay property tax, while according to its estimate, there are more than 30 lakh properties in the city.