The State Inspector General of Registration (IGR) of police has issued a notice to the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) in connection with illegal mobile towers set up in different parts of the city and fined and issued notices estimated to be worth ₹80 lakhs for non-payment of ₹1.25 crore stamp duty and registration charges to the department.
The IGR had instituted an inquiry following inputs that the mobile tower companies were causing revenue loss to the government as they were signing contracts with land owners on a stamp paper of ₹500 without registering the documents.
Based on the basic document of contract signing of mere stamp paper, the IGR vigilance department found that there were at least 100 mobile towers which had not paid registration and stamp duty to the government.
The IGR department carried out a detailed investigation and slapped notices to them seeking recovery of stamp duty and additional fines for causing loss to the government. The mobile towers require an area between 300 and 500 square for putting up the tower and its entire set-up.
The IGR office in its communication to the civic body directed the administration to look into the aspects like prior permission with the PMC, registration of mobile tower documents with the IGR and other modalities with the IGR office and the PMC.
{{/usCountry}}The IGR office in its communication to the civic body directed the administration to look into the aspects like prior permission with the PMC, registration of mobile tower documents with the IGR and other modalities with the IGR office and the PMC.
{{/usCountry}}Santosh Hingane, assistant registrar, registration and stamp duty department, Pune city, said, “We have sent a letter to the PMC and asked them to permit only those applicants who have signed proper stamp duty registration documents. We are investigating all the old documents and based on the findings penal action will be taken for recovery of stamp duty.
Currently, most of the companies sign a ten-year contract on a ₹500 stamp paper with the land owner.
According to the IGR office, currently, only 100 such documents have been investigated and as many as 1,000 are under scanner.
According to the IGR office, the mobile tower operators are expected to pay a five per cent stamp duty on ten per cent of the prevailing market rate of the plot of the land for a five-year lease. If the plot owner has to go for either a 7 to 10-year lease, then they will have to pay five per cent amount of twenty-five per cent of the prevailing market rate of the plot while those who were to lease the plot for 10 to 29 years will have to pay five per cent stamp duty on fifty per cent of the prevailing market rate of the said plot.