The cost of redeveloping and developing your property may go up as the Tamil Nadu government has revised the registration charges for transfer of power of attorney to non-family members by 1% of the property’s market value. At present, registration charges in such cases is a flat rate of Rs 10,000. The hike will come into effect on July 10.
The state registration department has increased the registration fees and stamp duty of 20 services provided by the department under section 78 of the Registration Act 1908 after a gap of 20 years.
This includes searching of the registers, for making or granting copies of reasons, entries, or documents, before on or after registration; for the safe custody and return of documents among others.
“We have been seeing a lot of issues in power of attorney, especially in land grabbing cases. Hence, we want to discourage this and increase sales by the landowners,” said a registration department official.
However, developers feel that a hike in registration of power of attorney may have an impact on the customers as well. Sanjay Chugh, city head and director, Anarock Property Consultants, said, “Although it will bring additional revenue to the registration department, it would also add an additional cost burden for projects that are slated for joint development / redevelopment.” he said.
Sridharan, chairman Lyra properties and national vice-president (south) of the Confederation of Real Estate Developers’ Associations of India (CREDAI), termed it as a steep hike. “We will represent to the government with a request to reconsider the same, as this may cause hardship to the end users; i.e., home/plot buyers as cost will escalate,” he explained.
According to a release from the state registration department, the additional charges for private attendance by the sub-registrar at the residence has been increased from Rs 200 to Rs 1,000. “Many VIPs, elderly persons and others who cannot come to the registration offices avail this service,” explained the registration department official.
The other hike is in the fee for the receipt document for mortgage which has shot up from a meagre Rs 20 to Rs 200. The registration charges for partition, family settlement and release of documents have been raised from Rs, 4,000 to Rs 10,000 and the stamp duty for the same has increased from Rs 25,000 to Rs 40,000.
“One reason for the hike is that the rates have remained the same for the past 20 years. Another is that we must increase the revenue of the registration department,” said an official.
