Undervalued registration; one-time settlement to end soon

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The one-time settlement facility provided to the undervalued registrants for payment of dues is being discontinued. The registration department will start revenue recovery proceedings from April 1 against those who do not clear their dues before March 31. This is in view of the financial crisis of the government.

One-time settlement was allowed in arrears cases where an undervaluation report was filed for documents registered from January 1, 1986, to March 31, 2017. About two and a half lakh people have to pay their dues. 200 crores are expected in this category. Although the liability related to the property will be cleared, it will be difficult for those who have registered additional land, to pay the dues together. 30% of the additional stamp paper price is to be paid as arrears. The 2% registration fee will be waived.

A stamp duty of 8% of the value shown in the document and a registration fee of 2% is payable at the time of registration. With the introduction of undervaluation in 1986, the sub-registrar can send an undervaluation report to the district registrar if he feels that the value shown for the land while registering the document is low. According to the report, a notice will be sent to the documented party to pay the stamp duty based on the maximum value. One time settlement was introduced in 2016 for defaulters. With the implementation of fair price on April 1, 2010, the number of undervalued registrations decreased. Registrations that have been done after 2017 at a lower price are also being scrutinized. About 100,000 cases have been detected so far.

To find out if the price is low

Dues are levied in cases where land is found to have been registered without recording the high price based on criteria including roads nearby. Whether the documents have been registered at a reduced price can be known from the www.keralaregistration.gov.in /pearlpublic website link.