Properties registering this month have to book time slots at the registration office concerned through the e-step-in facility, following stringent restrictions on movement of people under the Maharashtra government’s Break the Chain order to prevent the spread of Covid-19.
The slot-booking process would ensure that each of the 519 registration offices in the state carry out a maximum of 25-30 registrations daily, indicating a sharp decline in the government’s revenue in the first month of the new financial year.
A senior official of the registration department said, “Only a few homebuyers might step out under such restrictions after booking slots online, affecting the revenue collection at the onset of the new fiscal.”
A resident of Kondhwa has decided to do exactly that. The homebuyer had earlier planned to register the property in April. “Now, I am planning to wait and watch,” she said.
The 519 registration offices in the state would operate from 10am to 6pm from Monday to Friday in April. They would be closed in the weekend, following the weekend curfew order.
The homebuyers having paid their stamp duty before March and those who have to pay it and register properties this month would have to follow the same procedure for booking the slots through the e-step-in facility, said another senior official of the registration department. They would have to visit the state’s property registration website to book the time slots and get a confirmation on the allotted time slot.
“The notification about the booked slot has to be shown while going to the registration office. Only those who have to be present for the registration process would be allowed inside to ensure minimum footfall at the registration offices,” said inspector-general of registration and controller of stamps Shravan Hardikar on Tuesday.
He encouraged developers to go for e-registration of new properties from their own offices to reduce footfall at the sub-registrars’offices.
Credai representatives stressed that the withdrawal of the stamp duty waiver (only women to get 1% concession) and the new restrictions would definitely affect the registrations and impact the overall realty business in the state.
National vice-president of Credai Shantilal Kataria told, “Till March, the government did see high registrations and the stamp duty waiver had given some momentum to the realty market. We are urging the government to reconsider our request for continuing with the stamp duty concession in the present situation. If the state government is announcing that the restrictions should not affect the economy, they should take due steps for the same.”
