Property Registration Started In Noida But Stamp Department To Catch Up With Revenue Target

Though more than half the financial has already passed, the Noida registry department has collected only 750 crore this fiscal so far, who is not even half of its annual target of 3,148.45 crore, even though the registration of properties has increased ever since the lockdown restrictions were eased.

According to officials, April to November in 2019, the department had collected 900 crore and 850 crore during the same period in 2018.

S K Tripathi, assistant commissioner, stamps, and assistant inspector, general registration of Gautam Budh Nagar, said that the department had not registered any property in April and that revenue was zero that month. In May, June and July, however, the department collected 12 crore, 60 crore and 110 crore, respectively as stamp duty.

In August and September, the department collected 116 crore and 130 crore in revenue, respectively, through stamps and registration. In October and November, the registry department collected 322 crore.

“We have so far collected 750 crore from April-November despite the lockdown, due to the Covid-19 pandemic. We aim to collect 700 crore in the next four months,” Tripathi said.

The officials said that they are getting applications for registration of small properties but no big developer has come for registration after the lockdown. They added that the department used to register about 1.25 lakh properties annually at its six offices in the district but this year, Tripathi said, a 30% fall in registration is being estimated.

The UP government has given 3,148.45 crore as annual revenue target to the department for the financial year 2020-21. For the last four years, figures show that the department has not been able to meet the target due to slump in the real estate sector.

The registration department’s data shows that in the 2019-20 financial year, the department had collected 1,856.48 crore against the annual target of 2,597 crore. In 2018-19, it had collected 1,879 crore against a target of 2,532 crore. In 2017-18, it had collected 1,685 crore, falling short of its target of 2,522 crore. Similarly, in 2016-17, the revenue collected was 1,761 crore against a target of 2,223 crore.

Pankaj Bajaj, the president confederation of real estate developers’ association of India (CREDAI -NCR), a developers’ body, said that the real estate market is now improving after the lockdown.

“The government should reduce the stamp duty so that more people can come for the registration. This will immensely boost the government’s revenue and also the real estate sector,” he said.

The district administration revises the stamp duty annually, which comes into effect from August 1. Tripathi said that the stamp duty will be revised by March 31 in 2021.

(Source: Hindustan Times)