Revenue dept.’s sloppy work cost govt. ₹217 crore: CAG

Most discrepancies in how duty was levied, says report

Mumbai: The State government has lost out on revenue up to ₹217.27 crore due to irregularities in collection of stamp duty and registration fees in 2015-16, the latest report by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has claimed. Most discrepancies are in the way duty was levied. The report, which was tabled in the Legislative Assembly on Saturday, said the CAG audited 463 of 593 cases in 2015-16, and found revenue loss of ₹155.52 crore.

The report said losses due to non-consideration of license fee and imposing security deposit in lease agreements was ₹19.61 crore. It claimed calculations on consideration of several properties went wrong, leading to a loss of ₹11.94 crore. “In many cases, the revenue-sharing aspect between owners and purchasers was not considered while calculating market value. In one case, this led to ₹10.87 crore less stamp duty being levied.”

Also, the Revenue Department had allowed concessions on stamp duty in gift deeds despite this being against the rules, as the ‘donor’ and ‘donee’ were not lineal ascendants or descendants, resulting in ₹1.15 crore less stamp duty being levied in another case. The report said, “Incorrect calculation of market value of property resulted in short levy of stamp duty of ₹57.95 lakh. Incorrect grant exemption on lease deed by the Revenue Department resulted in non-levy of stamp duty of ₹21.05 lakh. The department did not consider the renewal clause as part of lease deed for calculation of market value, resulting in short levy of stamp duty of ₹10.27 lakh. Also, misclassification of instrument of release deed resulted in short levy of stamp duty amounting to ₹10.57 lakh.”

The CAG also audited 209 projects falling in the Special Economic Zone category, and found duty was wrongly imposed. In 16 proposals under a special township policy, not even one project has been constructed.

Coming down heavily on the State Industries Department, the CAG said 8,017 Stamp Duty Exemption Certificates were issued under Package Scheme of Incentives, IT-ITES policy and Tourism Policy. Of these, 3,443 units did not start activities. “There is no information available whether these units had availed remission in stamp duty,” the report said.