Pay remaining stamp duty to get back property documents

CHENNAI: Property owners who are denied registration documents citing non-payment of stamp duty by the registration department can heave a sigh of relief. Coming January 3, ‘Samadhan’ scheme, a conciliatory scheme will allow the owners to pay two-thirds of the ‘remaining’ stamp duty to get back their documents. Eyeing to clear nearly 17,000 documents and earn revenue of '500 crore, the state registration department is all set to roll out the conciliatory scheme for the sixth time.

A senior registration department official said that the state government had issued a government order regarding the implementation of the scheme on December 29. “Property owners who registered their properties before slashing of guideline values on June 8 are eligible to apply in the scheme. The owners should pay two-thirds of the remaining stamp duty and registration fee according to the earlier rates,” the official added.

Usually, the documents would only be returned to the owners after they pay entire stamp duty under section 47A of the Stamp Act. Nearly 17,000 documents had piled up without returning to the public, thereby causing a potential revenue loss to the tune of Rs 500 crore, the official added. According to the new Government Order, the property owners can apply to the sub-registrars until April 2to get their original documents. “The ‘Samadhan’ scheme will not be extended beyond April 2,” the official said.

Following the government order, the Inspector General of Registration had issued a department circular to ensure the successful rolling out of the scheme. It is to be noted that the registration department had announced ‘Samadhan’ scheme earlier during 1999, 2002, 2004, 2007 and 2012. In which the department had collected revenue of Rs 34.50 crore, Rs 95.55 crore, Rs 88.30 crore, Rs 76.92 crore and Rs 140.83 crore respectively.