Maha govt to withdraw circular on registration fee

Bowing to pressure from real estate developers, consumer organisations and political parties, the Maharashtra government is likely to withdraw its recent circular that removes the upper limit on the registration fee charged on the market value of the apartment purchased.

Around a fortnight back, the state government came out with a circular that removed the cap of Rs 30,000 on the registration fees. It meant that a person buying a property worth Rs 1 crore had to pay a registration fee of Rs 1 lakh, instead of Rs 30,000.

Earlier, this fee was charged at the rate of 1 per cent of the transaction cost, with an upper limit of Rs 30,000.

When contacted, Revenue Minister Patangrao Kadam said a final decision on the issue would be taken only after consulting Chief Minister Ashok Chavan.

The revenue minister will be meeting the chief minister late in the evening to discuss various issues, including the issue of registration fee.

The state government justified the move by claiming that it needed to remove the cap as due to recession its regular sources of income generation like VAT, stamp duty, vehicle tax, excise etc. are not going to generate  expected revenue.  And at the same time its revenues are under pressure due to implementation of VI th pay commission recommendations and farm loan waiver.