Ghaziabad: Stamps revenue up as people rush to execute registries before circle rate hike

The officials said there was no hike in circle rates in fiscal 2023-24 and the rates were last increased in 2022-23, when the average hike was about 10-12%.

Anticipating a steep hike in circle rates this year, more people are hurrying to get their properties registered before the district administration finalises the hike in circle rates and issues a notification in the next few days, said officials in the know of the matter.

They said the stamps and registration department has earned about ₹147 crore more revenue over the first five months of this financial year as compared to the same period last year (Sakib Ali/HT Photo)

They said the stamps and registration department has earned about ₹147 crore more revenue over the first five months of this financial year as compared to the same period last year.

The officials said there was no hike in circle rates in fiscal 2023-24 and the rates were last increased in 2022-23, when the average hike was about 10-12%.

This financial year, the administration has already proposed a steeper hike of about 10-20% for residential properties, 15-20% for commercial and 5-10% for agricultural properties.

“Since there was no increase in circle rates last year, people are hurrying to get properties registered as they are almost certain that a steep hike in circle rates is on the cards this year. This is why the revenue through stamp duty paid on registration of properties has increased by about ₹147 crore between April and August this year as compared to the same period last year,” said Pushpendra Kumar, assistant inspector general (stamps).

The officials said the proposed hike in circle rates for this financial year is likely to get finalized in the next 3-4 days.

The official figures indicate that the department earned about ₹232 crore in April this year, ₹251 crore in May, ₹255 crore in July and ₹250 crore in the month of August this year.

In comparison, the revenue the previous fiscal was ₹200 crore in April 2023, ₹269 crore in May, ₹229 in June, ₹184 crore in July and ₹210 crore in August 2023.

“People wait and watch the proposed hike in circle rates and then decide when to get properties registered. If they expect a steep hike, which also increases the amount of stamp duty to be paid, they would prefer to register before the hiked rates come into effect,” said Vijay Verma, a resident of Panchvati.

The figures also indicate that in absence of a hike in circle rates last fiscal, the department could achieve only 85% of their annual target of ₹3,007 crore.

On the other hand, the department has already achieved 41% of their target of ₹3,104 crore by August this year, officials said.

The sector rates are rates at which the GDA sells it properties for the first time to an allottee. The subsequent sales are taken up on circle rates which are defined by the district magistrate, said officials.