Nearly 60% drop in registration of property documents, as well as revenue, in Maharashtra,in the first 45 days of the current financial year as against pre-Covid average monthly registrations due to the pandemic restrictions imposed by local authorities.
Registration officials said the drop in registrations alone for the first 45 days was about 65% as compared to March this year. An official said on an average, the state would register 2.3 lakh documents per month before the pandemic began, which brought Rs2,200 crore in revenue per month.
In April, as many as 1.34 lakh property documents were registered, leading to a collection of Rs 845 crore, the official said, citing the data. “In May, the registrations till May 19 stood at 49,775, which brought in Rs 666 crore in revenue,” the official said.
The overall pandemic situation followed with restrictions has hit the department collections and registrations severely. “We have some of our offices closed in Amravati, Parbhani and Hingoli due to to the pandemic. Once the cases start declining and the restrictions are relaxed, we can expect things to streamline,” state Inspector General of Registration and Stamps Shravan Hardikar said.
The state government restored the stamp duty to 6% throughout the state and 5% in Mumbai from April 1, which too has impacted the registrations, said potential buyers who were hoping the stamp duty waiver to be extended.
The state had slashed stamp duty charges to 3% between September 1, 2020, and December 2020 in a bid to boost real estate sales amidst the slowdown caused due to the first wave of Covid-19. The government then continued it with a 2% reduction from January- March this year. National vice-president Credai Shantilal Kataria said the second wave had affected the market sentiment. “The state government should take some decision to help consumers by extending the stamp duty waiver once the cases reduce. The central government should also give some relaxations in Good and Services Tax,” he said.
As per the data provided by the Inspector General of Registration (IGR), Maharashtra, the stamp duty cut period between September 2020 and March 2021 registered a growth of 114% in registrations against the same period last year September 2019 to March 2020.
Prashant Thakur, director & head – Research, Anarock Property Consultants, said despite the stamp duty cuts, the state government recorded almost the same volume of registrations revenue as it did last year in the same period. “Ever since the expiry of the stamp duty cut period from April 1, there has been a drop in property registrations,” he said.
