In view of protests from several quarters, the Delhi Cabinet on Monday deferred a decision on finalising the circle rates for properties in certain colonies. It has now decided to consult the residents of these colonies before arriving at a final decision.
At a meeting chaired by Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, it was pointed out that the residents’ welfare associations of many colonies have objected to the manner in which the circle rates for them had been announced. Some of the colonies, particularly in East Delhi, had objected to the rates announced for them being lower than those announced for adjoining ones.
Taking a considerate view of such objections, the Delhi Cabinet decided to call a meeting with the residents of these colonies to resolve their grievances.
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It was in June this year that the circle rates, that prescribe the minimum rate for valuation of properties, were announced for various colonies.
The circle rates were first introduced in Delhi in 2007 and were notified under the provisions of The Delhi Stamp (Prevention of Undervaluation of Instruments) Rules 2007 on July 18, 2007. The rates were then notified to simplify the assessment of stamp duty and bring in transparency, simplicity and efficiency in the process of registration and to increase the realisation of stamp duty.
As in the subsequent years, the neighbouring States of Haryana and Uttar Pradesh had substantially increased the circle rates for properties in satellite townships such as Gurgaon and Noida respective, pressure grew in Delhi to rationalise these rates.
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The Delhi Government reviewed the issue in July 2009 and a workshop was also organised in February 2010 to obtain the opinion from all stake holders involved in property transactions. The issue was then placed before the Cabinet on June 7, 2010, and it was decided to constitute a committee to recommend suitable suggestions in respect of categorisation of colonies.
Based on the report submitted by the Cabinet Committee it was decided to introduce circle rates based on localities and colonies instead of the earlier yardstick of unit area method. Thereafter the specific circle rates for 2,480 colonies and localities were announced and these ranged from Rs.9,000 per square metre to Rs.125,000 per square metre.