Good move: Letter to BS on benami ads leaving property owners jittery

The article “Benami ads leave property owners jittery” (January 11) yet again brings a great step by the government to minimise the menace of ‘black money’ that has plagued our country. We have become used to doing real estate deals with huge sums of black money; it has become a kind of ‘given’ that if you have to buy or sell any property you have to involve unaccounted money — whether you like it or not. Very few property transactions take place with full cheque payment and, in such cases, the buyer invariably gets less than what he/she would have received if part of it was in black. Along with the controversial demonetisation and Goods and Services Tax and then Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, this latest step should really hit the black money trade where it hurts. One must appreciate the novel approach of the government to release advertisements, cautioning owners of benami properties to desist from the nefarious practice. Benami properties have been the bane of the income tax department and honest taxpayers. The advertisement and the expected follow-up action — seeking more details of property holders and a “clamp down” on such properties — may force them to regularise matters. Hopefully this step will make a big dent in the black money circulation in the country.

Krishan Kalra, Gurugram

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