Only two BJP legislators Atul Bhatkhalkar and Manish Chaudhari on Wednesday attended the meeting convened by the Mumbai suburban district collector to seek their views on the ready reckoner rates. Even though the government revises the RR rates from January 1 of every year, it has yet to be done and therefore the consultation process has been launched. The new rates will be applicable from February 8, 2019.
Incidentally, legislators from Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress did not turn up for the meeting.
RR is an annual statement of rates on which the stamps and registration department collects the stamp duty from property purchasers.
Bhatkhalkar told FPJ,'' I have suggested that the RR rates should not be increased in Greater Mumbai. The RR rates applicable for 500 sq ft homes, transit camps and slum rehabilitation projects should be reduced.'' He further suggested that the government should fix the RR rates not just zone wise but as per the city survey numbers.
Bhatkhalkar at the outset insisted that the RR rates should be fixed in a scientific manner and not on ad hock basis.
Bhatkhalkar's suggestions come close on the heels of the Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar asking the Department of Registration and Stamps to rationalize RR rates to increase revenues, instead of hiking stamp duty on property deals. Pawar, who holds the finance department, was categorical in his message to the officers to rework RR rates, don't hike stamp duty.
Builders Association of India spokesman Anand Gupta supported Pawar's suggestions to rationalize RR rates saying that they should be commensurate with actual market price at which property transactions take place. ''In the past, the state government has been arbitrarily increasing RR rates without taking into account the ground reality. This has completely jeopardized the property transactions in Mumbai,'' he noted.
