Govt unable to print new reckoner due to huge costs involved
Govt unable to print new reckoner due to huge costs involvedIt's official. The stamp duty and registration department will charge you the rates of 2008. The government this year did not print a new ready reckoner and is still carrying on with the old one.
The reason behind not printing the new copies is the government's inability to spend huge amounts of money for changing the figures in the reckoner. On an average, they receive around Rs 8,500 crore every year from stamp duty and registration. If the government enters the new rates in the reckoner, they might lose 30 per cent of the amount.
That comes to more than Rs 2,500 crore with the property rates seeing a drop of more than 30 per cent across.
An officer from the stamp duty registration department, on condition of anonymity, said, "The exact reason is not known for not printing the copies but the department is using the 2008 reckoner."
The stamp duty registration is the second biggest revenue-generating department.
According to a source, the government will hesitate to reduce the prices in the ready reckoner. If they do, the government will lose crores of rupees.
Even Advocate Vinod Sampat, President, Stamp Duty and Registration Payers Association thinks the loss in revenue is the reason why the government hasn't changed the reckoner rates. "On an average, Maharashtra earns Rs 8,500 crore every year from the stamp duty and registration. Out of this, approximately 60 per cent comes from Mumbai. If the reckoner is printed with the current rates, the revenue for the year 2009 would fall by 30 per cent, amounting to a huge loss for the government as property rates have fallen by the same amount. So the government did not print the reckoner," said Sampat.
Sampat added, "The government's decision of not changing the rates will affect the seller and the buyer. They will have to pay extra money to the government in spite of the drop in the rates."
