Hyderabad Karnataka Chamber of Commerce and Industry

The HKCCI (Hyderabad Karnataka Chamber of Commerce and Industry) has taken stand against the proposal of State Government which was about to increase the guidance value of the real estate property in Kalaburagi region without any set of guidelines. A written objection which was filed by HKCCI before Chief Controlling Revenue Authority in Karnataka, Inspector General of Registration and Commissioner of Stamps and Amarnath Patil, Secretary of HKCCI, pointed out that there are many shortcomings in proposal which is related to increase the guidance values of the real estate property in Kalaburagi city.

Amarnath Patil, Secretary of HKCCI stated that we request to publish the notification in newspaper for the increase in guidance value to receive the opinion or objection of public because till now no such notification has been published in newspaper related to increase in guidance value. The more he added that it is neither legal nor authentic to submit the proposal or raise the guidance value of property, if anyone is fighting against it and asking to drop the proposal to meet the justice. According to Amarnath, the existing rates of real estate property in that particular region are as per the book value of the sub registrar and it is more than the market value of the property in Kalaburagi.

Due to low pace in real estate market currently there are no buyers for the property at the market value, and if we will allow the state government alone to fix the property price on higher side, so it will be not tenable. The more he added that the guidance value of property in Kalaburagi city was revised two times in July 2013 and December 2014 and there is no space for the third revision in such a short period.

Government to take action against official authorities responsible for delay in SRA projects

If there will be any irregularities in the construction of residential units under the Slum Rehabilitation Scheme, so the action will be initiated within 24 hours of receipt of cheating complaints by the buyers of Slum Rehabilitation Scheme, said Prakash Mehta, Maharashtra Housing Minister. The more he added that the developer was fined because it was found that he was engaged in malpractices and it could increase from present fine which is Rs. 24 lakh if necessary. Maharashtra Housing Minister, Prakash Mehta was replying to the queries about the irregularities complaints which are pending SRA schemes.

Prakash Binsale, MLC of NCP asked that if state government is going to take any action against official authorities then who will be responsible for delay in SRA projects. He also requested that the entire schemes should be implemented by MHADA.

In reply Prakash Mehta, who is Housing Minister, stated that “Total 96 projects on MHADA land and 129 projects on BMC land are pending as concern officials haven’t submitted proposals. However, In December 2014, CM of Maharashtra Devendra Fadnavis took meeting of all SRA officials and it was first meeting after 13 years so few issues have come up lime light. Most of the MHADA officials accepted that there was no progress in any project in last three years. And now state government is thinking that justice should be done as slum dwellers as awaiting for it and action will be taken against every official without delay if we find instances of cheating.

The present amount of fine which will be levied on developers is approx, Rs. 24 lakh but government will not hesitate to increase the amount of fine if it will be essential. Till now government has fined K K Construction with the fine amount of Rs 24 lakh and recently complaint has been lodged at Mulund Police station against Arihant Construction Company. In last one year the action has been taken against 11 real estate developers. The minister added that government will formulate an ethical and comprehensive policy for Housing and real estate market, though which all the issues of SRA would be addressed regularly.

However, Devendra Fadnavis – CM of Maharashtra has already announced that soon he will bring new Housing policy and after that all the SRA issues will be addressed as per that policy. Whereas; Metha added that, we are inviting opinions from all the concern members.

Small properties will be excluded from new tax system

In a positive move to bring relief to around 8 lakh households in the city, BMC has decided to exclude structures below 500 sq ft from the capital value based property tax system once again. They will now continue to pay property tax based on the old system of ready reackoner rates.

This fresh proposal was tabled before the civic general body meeting by leader of the house Trishna Vishwasrao (Shiv Sena) as the made a suggestion that structures under 500 sq ft should be excluded from the capital value based property tax system as many of these were Maharashtrian households. According to new property tax proposal the BMC had decided to charge properties below 500 sq ft as per the new system, at the standing committee meeting on Thursday. This BMC proposal passed unanimously in the civic general body meeting however, now proposal will be sent to the state government for its final nod. If BMC proposal will get the nod from state government, so it will continue for five years.

As per the Civic officials, with new changes in property tax system BMC would lose additional revenues of Rs 55 crore by excluding below 500 sq ft structures from the system, as civic body was earning Rs 148 crore from these structures under the old ready reckoner system.

As per the Congress corporator Pravin Chheda, “It was the proposal of earlier Congress government which had given exemption to people to live in structures of 500 sq ft from the capital value based property tax system. So we demanded adding this to the new proposal.” As we all know that with effect from April 1, 2010, the BMC was adopted capital value based property tax system, and according to it the tax was about calculated on the basis of capital value of the property. And after that state government had decided to exempt structures below 500 sq ft from it for the five-year period of 2010-15.

A government notification issued by Inspector General of Registration on LBT has ended all confusions over payment of one per cent Local Body Tax (LBT) by property buyers as stamp duty. The State government had increased stamp duty from April 1, 2013.

As per the notification, property buyers, whose sale agreements are registered before April 1, 2013 but who had their deeds executed after that date, will be benefited. If Stamp Duty has been paid on any sale agreement and registered before April 1, 2013, the buyer has to just pay Rs. 100/- as fees towards Stamp Duty. Such buyers need not pay any LBT on the purchase of the property. There was lot of apprehension among the buyers that they might have to pay LBT. The notification will bring relief to many property buyers who made sale agreements before April 1 2013.

The on-line payment of Stamp Duty and registration fees is proving beneficial as online payments will reduce frauds and ensure accountability of funds in government treasuries. Department of Registration and Stamps looks after registration of documents and collection of Stamp Duty through more than 470 sub-registrar offices across the State. More than 23 lakh documents were registered in 2011-12 under the Government Receipt Accounting System (GRAS). IGR is promoting on-line payments in place of physical payments, franking and E-secured bank and treasury receipt (ESBTR).

Here comes a shot in the arm of housing sector with none other than Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan stating that the state government will ensure that middle income group people are able to afford their own houses.
Speaking after unfurling the tricolour at the Mantralaya here to mark the 68th Independence Day, the Chief Minister said, “It is very difficult for the common man to own a house in Mumbai or at other big cities in Maharashtra. For this, we have decided to work towards a goal of ensuring affordable houses. And it will be ensured that it happens at the earliest,” he said.
Since shelter is one of the fundamental needs of man, the government will leave no stone unturned in ensuring that every head has a roof over it, he said.
The Chief Minister said that the government will make Maharashtra an “online” state in the next five years, which will reduce corruption and help citizens avail government facilities.
“We want to make Maharashtra an online state that will help citizens avail all the services of the government sitting at home. This will make government procedures transparent and efficient at the same time. We will ensure that the scheme reaches across to even the smallest of villages,” he said.
“By launching the Rajiv Gandhi Jeevandayee Arogya Yojana, the government has tried to ensure that the needy get the best treatment free of cost. From the time it was initiated, around 5.62 lakh people have benefited from it and the government has spent Rs 712 crores on this scheme,” he added.