206 undervaluation cases settled within Thrikkakara sub-registrar office limits

September 11, 2013 01:03 pm | Updated June 02, 2016 11:06 am IST - KOCHI:

The State government’s compounding scheme to settle undervaluation cases in the registration department seems to have evoked considerable interest among defaulters within the Thrikkakara sub-registrar office limits.

A one-time settlement adalat held for property owners within the Thrikkakara sub-registrar office limits on Tuesday to settle undervaluation cases dating back to 1986 was the third such one since the State government launched the scheme on August 25, 2012. The adalat managed to collect Rs.3.39 lakh in 206 cases. In the two previous adalats, the registration department raked in Rs.18 lakh in 919 cases.

The collection was low compared to the number of cases settled as majority of cases pertained to the period when Thrikkakara was a panchayat. It was upgraded to a municipality only in 2010.

A.A. Mohamed Habeebulla, Thrikkakara sub-registrar, said that so far notices had been sent to 5,000-odd property owners for undervaluation. The compounding scheme, he said, offers a golden opportunity to escape paying a hefty sum as fine and facing revenue recovery proceedings.

The scheme will be in force till March 31, next year during the course of which the property owners concerned will have multiple options – they can either take advantage of similar adalats, pay the settlement amount directly at the sub-registrar office concerned or draw a demand draft in favour of the district registrar.

Once the scheme runs its course, revenue recovery proceedings will be initiated against those who received notices on undervaluation but didn’t pay up. In that case the property owners will not receive the huge relief, which they are now entitled to under the compounding scheme.

The government introduced the scheme to settle undervaluation cases reported by sub-registrars in the State at the time of registration of property. Four different slabs have been fixed for the settlement based on the parcels of land, the value of which was shown much lower than the actual value in the registration deeds.

It’s a win-win situation for defaulters, as their liability in majority of cases is limited between Rs. 1,000 and Rs. 12,000 despite their undervaluation stretching to three and four fold of that amount.

As per the scheme, the slabs fixed for settlement varies depending on whether the land concerned is within the corporation, municipal or panchayat limits.

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