The ongoing lockdown has hit property registrations in the state causing a loss of Rs 1,000 crore so far for the registration department. The department, which is a cash cow for the Tamil Nadu government, generated a total revenue of Rs 22,000 crore in the last two financial years.
Turnout at sub-registrar offices has dropped substantially with several registration offices in Chennai and suburbs recording single-digit land transactions every day. “Sub-registrar offices in and around Chennai that would witness a minimum of 50 transactions on a daily basis have dropped to 10 to 12 and several in single digits. Deeds pertaining to memorandum of deposit, family settlement and housing plots in a few cases are taking place,” a sub registrar said.
While about 10000 documents were registered daily before the lockdown, official sources said it has plunged to 1,500 to 2,000 a day in the last three weeks. The registration department reopened its offices on April 20 with a cap of only 25 registrations being permitted in every sub-registrar office to ensure social distancing. About 10,000 registrations were expected every day, but the fear of contracting coronavirus and travel restrictions have kept people away. “We are not getting any new registrations. Most were planned two months ago,” another sub-registrar said.
Without the pandemic in the picture, registration of property worth a massive Rs 1,100 crore would have been recorded between March 25 and May 12. “Of this, only Rs 100 crore revenue was generated in the last 50 days,” a registration official said.
Meanwhile, the real estate sector is pinning all hopes on the lockdown being lifted soon so work can resume. Confederation of Real Estate Developers’ Association of India (CREDAI) Tamil Nadu chapter chairman S Sridharan said developers have began the process for registering documents in coordination with customers and banks. “Several registrations have been kept on hold. Movement of people between districts is a major constraint to reach registration offices and we expect that registrations would resume once curbs are eased,” he added.
