March 01, 2021 - CREDAI Bengal Homes

March 01, 2021

CREDAI Bengal Daily News Update | 01.03.21

                               WEST BENGAL NEWS

 Newspaper/ Online ET Realty (Online)
 Date               February 28, 2021
                   https://realty.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/regulatory/kolkata-
 Link              civic-body-mops-up-rs-431-crore-in-property-tax-waiver-scheme-
                   since-oct-1/81252694

  Kolkata civic body mops up Rs 431 crore in property tax waiver
                       scheme since Oct 1
The city’s property owners on Saturday made a beeline for the KMC treasury counters to
avail of the special waiver scheme and clear their tax dues.

The Kolkata Municipal Corporation on Saturday collected record revenue from the city’s
property owners availing the special interest waiver scheme on unpaid property tax. According
to a KMC revenue department official, while the civic body had collected Rs 400 crore revenue
under the special scheme since October 1 last year, Rs 31 crore was collected on Saturday.

The city’s property owners on Saturday made a beeline for the KMC treasury counters to avail of
the special waiver scheme and clear their tax dues. The KMC had introduced a 100% interest
waiver on unpaid property tax last October. The deadline for payment for the scheme was
extended                        till                       February                        28.

As the deadline drove hundreds to queue up in front of the KMC treasury counters across the city,
the civic brass on Thursday decided to keep open the counters by extending business hours to
6pm till Sunday. According to sources in the KMC revenue department, the civic body’s treasury
counters — including the one located at the headquarters — fetched Rs 31 crore from property
tax                        payers                           on                        Saturday.

“We were overwhelmed with the response of the property tax payers who didn’t want to miss the
opportunity of availing the scheme. We had given a special instruction to officials manning our
treasury counters not to refuse any applicant who had queued up to pay their dues,” said a KMC
revenue department official. Of the Rs 31 crore collected across the city, Rs 13 crore came from
south Kolkata, Rs 11 crore from north Kolkata and rest from the added areas.

According to a KMC assessment department senior official, hopes rose after a record collection
on Saturday and they expect to collect a similar amount on Sunday also. “We will keep all our
treasury counters open till 6pm tomorrow. Senior officials of the assessment department will
attend their offices at the headquarters to assist property owners who may come with some kind
of             difficulties,”            the              civic         official          said.

According to a KMC official, the revenue collected will be spent on clearing dues of contractors
engaged in keeping the city’s essential services intact. However, an assessment department
official said the civic body had prepared a list of habitual and big defaulters who have not applied
for the interest waiver scheme. “After the deadline expires, we will send notices to these habitual

defaulters and, if they fail to respond, we will be forced to take legal action,” the official said.

The waiver scheme had first been introduced in 2003 when Subrata Mukherjee was mayor. Then,
only 50% waiver had been provided on the interest that had accrued on property tax dues. The
scheme was aimed at mopping up revenue for infrastructure development. The scheme had been
popular and funds that were raised were utilized in augmenting water supply and modernizing
the drainage system. When Sovan Chatterjee took over as mayor in 2010, he, too, introduced the
scheme twice. But they did not elicit much response from property owners.

________________________________________________________________

OTHER NEWS

 Newspaper/ Online ET Realty (Online)
 Date               February 27, 2021
                   https://realty.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/industry/delhi-
 Link              government-notifies-20-reduced-circle-rates-for-land-immovable-
                   properties/81245578

   Delhi government notifies 20% reduced circle rates for land &
                     immovable properties
The Lt. Governor of the National Capital Territory of Delhi notified the relaxation in the
minimum rates (circle rates) for valuation of lands and immovable properties in Delhi on
Friday.

The Delhi government has notified the 20 per cent reduced circle rates for land and immovable
properties       to        boost           transactions         in           real      estate.

Recently, Mumbai had cut stamp duty rates which led to a massive increase in people buying and
selling                                                                             properties.

The Lt. Governor of the National Capital Territory of Delhi notified the relaxation in the
minimum rates (circle rates) for valuation of lands and immovable properties in Delhi on Friday.

As per the notification, the new rates will come into force without previous publication. The
above rates will be taken into consideration for registration of instruments relating to lands and
immovable properties in Delhi by all the Registering Authorities under the provisions of the
Indian Stamp Act, 1899 (2 of 1899) and the Indian Registration Act, 1908 (XVI of 1908) as in
force     in      Delhi     at     the     time       of      registration    of      instruments.

These revised rates shall come into force with immediate effect till September 30.

The circles rates has been reduced for residential, commercial, industrial and other properties in
Delhi          by         20%           for          the        next         six         months.

A reduction of 20% in the circle rate would have an impact close to reduction by 1% in the stamp
duty                        or                       registration                        charges.

The revised rates will be applicable till September 30 this year. The reduction in circle rates will
help people in substantially cheaper property transactions and revive the real estate sector that
has witnessed slump due to the unprecedented Covid-19 pandemic.

________________________________________________________________

Newspaper/ Online ET Realty (Online)
 Date              February 28, 2021
 Link              https://realty.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/industry/delhi-civic-
                   bodies-issues-final-warning-to-high-rises-to-do-safety-check/81252604

   Delhi civic bodies issues final warning to high-rises to do safety
                                 check
South Delhi Municipal Corporation has dispatched over 30 such warnings, while North
Delhi Municipal Corporation has issued five notices so far. East Delhi Municipal
Corporation is planning to initiate similar action in the future.

Receiving a tepid response from highrise buildings that were served notices nine months ago for
submitting structural audit reports, Delhi’s civic bodies have now resorted to issuing final warning
for disconnecting water and electricity supply if no response is received within a month.

South Delhi Municipal Corporation has dispatched over 30 such warnings, while North Delhi
Municipal Corporation has issued five notices so far. East Delhi Municipal Corporation is
planning      to        initiate     similar       action       in       the       future.

To ensure seismic stability of buildings in Delhi, the three civic bodies had earlier issued around
1,350 notices to buildings identified as high-risk structures. These included 709 buildings in
EDMC’s jurisdiction, and around 300 each in north and south corporation areas.

“People need to understand that the survey is for their safety and there is no need for retrofitting
in all cases. There have been instances where buildings constructed prior to 2000 were declared
fit, except for minor repair work. In a city like Delhi, which falls in Seismic Zone-IV, such surveys
are needed for the safety of all. In SDMC areas, 45 structural audits have been done so far,” said
a           civic         official          from           the           building         department.

In east Delhi, of 709 identified buildings, structural audits of only 47 have been completed so far.
“Of these, 12 were found seismic complaint, while retrofitting will be done in the remaining 35
buildings by March 31. The structural audit has also been carried out for 70 municipal buildings,
of which 68 were found to have seismic compliance,” an EDMC report mentioned.

North DMC, meanwhile, hs issued over 300 notices, including 93 in the Keshavpuram zone. “We
are giving opportunity to people to come forward and avail the facility for their own good. To
make the task easier, the corporations have made a list of empaneled engineers, which includes
faculty at government institutes such as IITs,” said a civic official.

Aditya Sharma, a structural engineer, who is part of the empaneled group, said things are
manageable at colonies where the RWA is strong. “The problem arises in societies constructed

under self-finance schemes or old DDA flats, where there is no proper RWA. It becomes difficult
to convince residents there,” added Sharma.

________________________________________________________________

Newspaper/ Online ET Realty (Online)
 Date               February 27, 2021
                   https://realty.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/regulatory/telangan
 Link              as-property-registration-departments-earns-rs-2000-crore-in-two-
                   months/81246686

    Telangana's property registration departments earns Rs 2,000
                        crore in two months
In January alone, the registration department had earned Rs 950 crore. However, the major
revenue-earning department may not achieve its target of Rs 8,000 crore this fiscal.

Though Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdown badly hit revenue of the state, the
registration  and    stamps     (R&S)      department     is    bouncing       back.

The state government has earned nearly Rs 2,000 crore in just two and half months through
property registrations. In January alone, the registration department had earned Rs 950 crore.
However, the major revenue-earning department may not achieve its target of Rs 8,000 crore this
fiscal.

The state government gets major revenue (state own tax revenue) from registration and stamps
department, commercial taxes and excise departments. However, due to the lockdown, the
registration offices were shut and later also there was no property transactions.

Since September, 2020 onwards, the state government had declared registration holiday for nearly
two and half months to ensure registration of both agriculture and non-agriculture properties
through Dharani portal. As there were legal hitches, the state government could go ahead with
agriculture property registrations through Dharani by revenue department, while the old system
is being followed for non-agriculture property registrations from December 14, 2020. “Since
December 14, about 3.10 lakh non-agriculture property documents were registered, which fetched
Rs 1,950 crore to the department. While the revenue was Rs 950 crore in January, it was about
Rs 640 crore in February 2021,” a top official of the registration and stamps department told TOI.

Of the Rs 2,000 crore revenue generated since December, 2020, nearly Rs 1,200 crore came from
real estate hubs Hyderabad, Rangareddy, Medchal-Malkajgiri and Sangareddy districts, official
sources said. After reopening sub-registrar offices with full capacity, the department’s revenue
was         less      than      50%         of       its       normal        daily      revenue.

“Our department revenue target is about Rs 8,000 crore for the 2020-2021 fiscal. But the
department may end up getting about Rs 5,500 crore by the end of this financial year. We expected
about Rs 10,000 crore initially for 2020-2021 with an intention to increase land values. But the
idea was dropped due to the the impact of lockdown,” a senior official in CMO said.

________________________________________________________________

Newspaper/ Online ET Realty (Online)
 Date               February 28, 2021
 Link              https://realty.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/regulatory/pune-
                   cantonment-board-to-seal-properties-of-tax-defaulters/81252678

      Pune Cantonment Board to seal properties of tax defaulters
The board has already issued notices to over 250 people, most of whom are owners of hotels,
garment shops among others, a PCB official said.

The Pune Cantonment Board (PCB) has decided to seal the properties of defaulters if they do not
clear      the      property       tax        arrears         before         March           5.

The board has already issued notices to over 250 people, most of whom are owners of hotels,
garment       shops        among         others,      a       PCB       official      said.

Amit Kumar, PCB’s CEO, said, “We have already given them adequate time to respond. If they
don’t make the full payment before March 5, we are going to seal their properties under the
Cantonment Act, 2006. It will remain sealed till we get the dues.”

The PCB is supposed to get Rs38 crore from 12,200 properties. It has recovered only Rs18 crore,
so far, an official said. We are left with limited revenue sources and property tax is one of them,”
Kumar said, adding that some of the owners have paid part of the taxes., but they anticipate 100%
recovery                                           from                                        them.

Traders and businessmen said the legal tussle between old tenants and owners is one of the
reasons for tax pendency. “Arrears of some establishments are in a few crores and they are not in
a position to pay because of lack of business in the last year due the pandemic. So, they have
resorted to partial payment,” a trader said.

________________________________________________________________

Newspaper/ Online ET Realty (Online)
 Date              February 28, 2021
 Link              https://realty.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/regulatory/maharer
                   a-asks-aibani-enterprise-to-refund-rs-1-6-crore-to-buyers/81252496

     MahaRERA asks Aibani Enterprise to refund Rs 1.6 crore to
                           buyers
Altaf Hussain Sarguroh and his sister Rubina Ayaz Kazi had complained against builder
Aibani Enterprise for failing to hand over their flats. Altaf said they booked flats in Aibani’s
upcoming project, Musfika, in Jogeshwari in June 2013.

Maharashtra Real Estate Regulatory Authority (MahaRERA) ruled in favour of a brother-sister
duo, directing the builder to refund them Rs 1.6 crore with interest for failing to hand over
possession          of           two         flats         in            a Jogeshwari project.

Madhav Kulkarni, the adjudicating officer, also directed the builder to pay Rs20,000 each to them
as                                                                                            cost.

Altaf Hussain Sarguroh and his sister Rubina Ayaz Kazi had complained against builder Aibani
Enterprise for       failing          to        hand         over        their         flats.

Altaf said they booked flats in Aibani’s upcoming project, Musfika, in Jogeshwari in June 2013.
Each of them paid Rs 50 lakh and the builder was to give possession by December 2015 for one
flat and by December 2016 for the other. The work did not progress till May 2015.

On execution of agreement on May 21, 2015, Altaf and Rubina and her husband took a loan of
Rs    58.6     lakh    from    DHFL      and      paid    stamp     duty    and      VAT.

The complainant had planned to start earning income from the flats from January 2017 and, hence,
demanded Rs40,000 rent per month. The builder agreed to pay every three months from July 2018
till possession was handed over. In April 2018, the builder issued a letter to take fit out possession
and pay the balance amount. The builder then applied to the MahaRERA and got an extension till
December                                                                                         2020.

Altaf asked the builder to pay the outstanding rent of Rs 5 lakh, but his demand was ignored.
With only 40% of the project completed till then, the complainant decided to withdraw from the
project   and    sought     refund    along     with    interest   at    18%     per   annum.

The authority observed the rent was not paid, and possession of the flats was not given. There is
no dispute that the complainant has paid Rs 1.6 crore, therefore the complainant is entitled for
refund         of       this        amount          with         10.4         %          interest.

“Complainants received rent, and gave undertakings in 2019 that they would take possession of
the flats. So where is the question of any dispute? My client also got extension for completion of

project, which the court has not considered so we will appeal against the order,” builder’s lawyer
Avinash Pawar said.

________________________________________________________________

Advertise your property on CREDAI Bengal Homes for maximum exposure
                      www.credaibengalhomes.com