Ernakulam has pipped other districts to clinch the top spot in terms of collection under the compounding scheme introduced by the State government to settle undervaluation cases in the registration department dating back to 1986.
Since the scheme was introduced in August 25, 2012, the district has settled 14,846 pending cases spread over 25 sub-registrar offices and collected Rs.3.85 crore till Tuesday.
The registration department has been organising adalats almost on a monthly basis in sub-registrar offices to give defaulters an opportunity to avoid paying hefty fines and facing revenue recovery proceedings for undervaluation of property at the time of registration.
Ernakulam sub-registrar office tops the list in the district collecting Rs.55.39 lakh in settlement of 966 cases. This was unsurprising considering the astronomically high land values within the limits of the office.
In keeping with its emerging status as an alternative business hub to the city, Edappally came second by realising Rs. 33.43 lakh in 736 cases.
Maradu, which was upgraded in to a municipality from panchayat in 2010, has come third with Rs. 23.45 lakh from 594 cases.
Thrikkakara, which is fast emerging as the IT and commercial hub, collected Rs. 22.48 lakh in settlement of 1,147 cases.
The perceived disparity in the number of cases settled and the amount collected can be attributed to the fact that Thrikkakara was a panchayat till 2010 when it was elevated into a municipality.
The stamp duty is considerably lower in panchayat areas compared to corporations and municipalities.
Kochi sub-registrar office, which collected Rs. 21.38 lakh from 739 cases, Paravur sub registrar office with Rs. 20.52 lakh in 896 cases, Tripunithura with Rs. 18.02 lakh from 626 cases, Muvattupuzha with Rs. 17.89 lakh from 771 cases, Angamaly with Rs. 16.96 lakh from 645 cases, and Perumbavur sub registrar office, which collected Rs. 16.12 lakh from 743 cases completed the top 10 list.
The adalat held across all 25 sub registrar offices on Tuesday reaped Rs. 46.54 lakh in settlement of 1,892 cases in to the government kitty.
Ernakulam, Maradu, and Thrikkakara sub registrar offices made top contribution with Rs. 8.44 lakh, Rs. 4.93 lakh, and Rs. 3.73 lakh respectively.
The compounding scheme will be in force till March 2014 after which revenue recovery proceedings will be initiated against the defaulters.
