The pandemic has dealt a severe blow to the government’s revenue through the Registration Department in the district, with the number of registrations and the resultant income dropping significantly.
The district has a total of 25 sub registrar offices and they collectively recorded 6,427 registrations accounting for ₹56.45 crore in March, towards the fag end of which the State went for a lockdown that lasted over two months.
In February and January, the registrations and resultant revenue were pegged at 7,625 and ₹63.11 crore, and 7,790 and ₹63.92 crore respectively.
With restrictions in place and registration limited to 10 a day in each office, the number of registrations in April nosedived to an unprecedented low of 479, generating revenue of ₹6.45 crore.
Though the operations are back to normal, the registrations are yet to touch pre-lockdown levels. In May, 4,379 registrations were held netting ₹43 crore, whereas in June and July, the numbers were 5,292 and ₹44.21 crore and 5,048 and ₹43.62 crore.
August has so far registered the biggest post-lockdown revenue of ₹48.88 crore from 4,931 registrations. However, it remains a far cry from ₹59.70 crore, ₹59.56 crore and ₹65.28 crore in the last three months respectively of 2019. During those three months 7,276, 7,356, and 7,107 registrations were done in the district.
The registration of sale deeds, reflecting property transactions and the biggest revenue grosser for the Department, remains particularly dented.
In March, the revenue from sale deed registration stood at ₹47.11 crore, a fall from ₹52.49 crore in February and ₹54.62 crore in January. In the last three months of 2019, the revenue on this count was ₹50.67 crore, ₹52.37 crore and ₹56.69 crore respectively.
In April it plummeted to ₹5.70 crore, before rising to ₹35.37 crore in May, ₹37.36 crore in June, ₹38.06 crore in July, and ₹41.68 crore in August.
Registration of gift deeds, settlement deeds, exchange deeds, partition, release, mortgage and lease deeds accounts for other major transactions and source of revenue.
Stamp paper shortage
The shortage of stamp papers has also affected registrations. Senior Revenue Department sources attributed it to logistical problems in sourcing stamp paper from the Nashik press, owing to the proliferation of COVID-19 cases in Maharashtra. It had been dealt with and the shortage would be resolved shortly, said sources.
