Special Chief Secretary of Revenue (Registration) Department Rajat Bhargava has said the State exchequer was found to be robbed of nearly ₹5.43 crore through fake challans submitted in the Sub-Registrar Offices (SROs) as on August 13 and a sum of ₹1.37 crore has been recovered.
The highest amount swindled by officers and employees in collusion with document writers was ₹3.81 crore in the purview of the Deputy Inspector General of Registration and Stamps, Vijayawada, of which about ₹72 lakh has been recovered. The second highest loss was ₹1.09 crore in Kadapa and ₹19.60 lakh has been recovered.
Mr. Bhargava told media persons here on Saturday that 10 criminal cases were booked in nine districts and an inquiry was on to expose the true magnitude of the scam. More than 65 lakh documents were being scrutinised and so far over 700 documents were found to have major discrepancies that led to the financial loss.
Complex process
Stamp papers, CFMS challans, franking, demand drafts, endorsements, e-stamping and consolidated payment (of stamp duty) were the different modes through which the stamp duties were paid and they were causing difficulties in reconciliation. Besides, the department regulates and administers the registration of marriages under the Hindu and Special Marriages Act, the Indian Partnership Act, the A.P. Societies Registration Act, the A.P. Chit Fund Act, the Notaries Act and the Non-Trading Companies Act and collects fees, penalties and user charges under the head of account (1475–200) on other business services.
“Further, the department collects surcharges on sales, gifts, exchanges, mortgages with possession and perpetual leases for transferring properties in claimants’ names,” said Mr. Bhargava, hinting at the complexity of transactions and the cumbersome procedures of monitoring the collections made by the SROs that probably resulted in the leakage of substantial revenue.
Various types of adjustments and modes of payment of duties were not only leading to complexity in the reconciliation of government receipts but also non-tallying of the CFMS figures with department figures, Mr. Bhargava said, adding that buyers of stamp papers were also under the scanner.
