E-Paper
PCMC residents irked over hike in property registration, transfer fees
Citizen activists and representatives of housing societies have opposed the hike in property registration charges by Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC)
Pune: Citizen activists and representatives of housing societies have opposed the hike in property registration charges by Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC).
Claiming that the hike is unjust, they have decided to prohibit entry of civic staff conducting a survey of unregistered properties and plan to hold protest against the decision. However, PCMC commissioner claims that the hike is a one-time levy and justified.
PCMC has started collecting 0.5% of the total capital value of property as registration fees/transfer fees which was earlier only 10% of the rateable value of property. The changes were made from April 2022 by the civic body. The residents learned about it recently when they went to register or transfer their properties. PCMC officials claim that as per the provisions of the Maharashtra Municipal Corporations Act 1949, Taxation Rule number 2, they have the power to increase taxes as it’s a revenue source for them.
According to Shekhar Singh, PCMC commissioner, the levy is a one-time charge. “Many other cities are following the same fee assessment for levy. I stand by my decision and residents should support us. There is not much protest or unrest amongst residents regarding the hike,” he said.
The Chikhali Moshi Pimpri-Chinchwad Housing Societies Federation (CMPCHSF) had written to PCMC a couple of weeks back opposing the decision claiming the hike is unjustified and the amount to be paid has increased by almost 500 times. The federation members claim PCMC is currently conducting a survey to identify unregistered properties, but they have barred the entry of staff as a protest.
Sanjeevan Sangale, chairman, CMPCHSF, said the decision has been taken by the administration without consideration of residents, elected members or housing society members. “We will soon hold a protest against the decision. Why does the civic body want to pinch the pockets of citizens every time to make money?” he said.
Manoj Kangane, a resident of PCMC, said, “A person who was paying around ₹500 to ₹600 for registration or transfer fee now has to pay around ₹50,000 for the same. Many have lost jobs, suffered pay cuts and business owners faced losses because of the Covid pandemic and the civic body has come up with such a hike.” Nilesh Deshmukh, assistant commissioner and head of PCMC tax department, said, “The transfer fees are levied only when it comes to financial transaction of sale of property. PCMC has waived off taxes when it comes to transfer of property among blood relation under 27 categories. No one talks about this waiver.”
Prakash Jukantwar, CMPCHSF secretary, said, “No one was aware about it until people went to register or transfer properties. Some of the developers who have sold their properties recently are asking citizens to get the registration of flats with the civic body on their own because of the exorbitant hike. Even developers are claiming that the hike is wrong.”
