Ahmedabad citizens are left to deal with avoidable issues by the administration with respect to a matter as important as the purchase and sale of the property. In what is clearly a basic job of paramount importance, the task of fixing jantri rates in more than 10000 survey numbers has remained unfinished as yet. The last updation of Jantri rates was in the year 2011. Jantri rates are the rates published in a booklet in the form of ready reckoner, of land value in a particular locality in city, town, or village which Government revenue authorities deem reasonable. It becomes also a standard minimum value on which stamp duty shall be charged by the Government upon transfer of property by sale or gift.
In absence of clarity from the sub-registrar offices, the jantri of the survey numbers where it is not fixed is arrived at by taking the nearest survey number as base. It happens at times that the property is inadvertently undervalued and flagged during an audit, the unsuspecting buyer has to pay stamp duty in lacs after the sale deed is executed.
Even at the time of 2011 jantri rates, the Government had to face many protests regarding what was termed as unduly high rates in certain pockets. So much so that the Government had to roll back the implementation of the decided rates in a certain manner.
Now, it has come to notice that the Deputy Collector’s office is issuing recovery notices in Ahmedabad city and district under Article 68(2) of the Gujarat Stamp Act. The notices give the time of seven days to reply and pay the difference in the amount raised by the revenue department.
The Government officials claim that since the audit has pointed out discrepancies, they are bound to recover the balance amount. The question however should arise why and how the property deal was registered with incorrect stamp duty in the first place. Shouldn’t be the Registrars and Revenue officials be held accountable for this avoidable problem? Asked an aggrieved citizen.
