Stamps and Registration Department registers record revenue growth of 26%

Revenue Minister Krishna Byre Gowda announces record growth in Stamps and Registration Department revenues, targets ₹24,500 crore by year-end.

The Stamps and Registration Department has registered a record growth of 26% in its revenues as against Karnataka’s average revenue growth of 11%, according to Revenue Minister Krishna Byre Gowda. The Minister said this rate of growth was at an all-time high.

Mr. Gowda expressed confidence that the Department would be able to comfortably meet this year’s targeted revenue of ₹24,500 crore by the end of this financial year. The Department had collected revenues to the tune of ₹ 15,500 crore by October.

Earlier, addressing a press conference in Bengaluru after reviewing the functioning of the Revenue Department through video conference with deputy commissioners of districts, the Minister disapproved of the argument that the revenues from the Stamps and Registration would have been much higher if the government had not imposed the condition that e-khata is mandatory for property transaction.

Pointing out that so far, frauds were being committed with respect to the registration of properties with the involvement of middlemen, who would help get fake “paper certificates” in the name of khata for properties, he said e-khata would end such frauds. It would also bring these properties under the tax ambit of local bodies. “Properties registered through fake certificates were evading property taxes, too. But e-khata would bring them under the tax ambit, helping in the increase of taxes for local bodies,” he said.

He pointed out that Bengaluru itself had seven to eight lakh properties that were not paying property taxes, while the number of such properties was estimated to be 20 to 30 lakh in the municipal limits and 90 lakhs under the village panchayat jurisdiction. “Bengaluru’s infrastructure development will get a boost if all these properties pay property taxes, and the mandatory e-khata norm for registration is a step in this direction,” the minister maintained.

Speaking on the issue of bagair hukum land, the Minister said digital certificates with respect to ownership rights would be given from next week. The officials concerned had been told to bring up at least 5,000 eligible applications before the bagair hukum committee by December 15.

This target would be increased to the range of 15,000-20,000 by February, he said. So far, the officials had found about 1.26 lakh applications as eligible after a verification process, he noted.