Stamp Duty and Registration – Law & procedural aspects provides an overview of stamp duty laws and procedures in India. The key points are: 1) Stamp duty is a tax paid to the government on legal documents like agreements and registrations. The amount paid depends on the type and value of the property. 2) Stamp duty must be paid in full and on time to avoid penalties. A properly stamped document has evidentiary value in courts. 3) There are different types of stamps for different uses like share transfers, insurance policies, and notarizations. Stamp duty can also be paid via stamp paper or franking machines. 4) The timing of payment, penalties for delays, persons responsible for payment,

1. Stamp Duty and Registration – Law & procedural aspects
By Sunit Gupta.
Real Estate Valuer & Co-Author of Stamp Duty Ready Reackoner
STAMP DUTY
Stamp duty.
Stamp Duty is a tax, similar to sales tax (VAT) and income tax collected by the
government. Stamp Duty is payable under Section 3 of The Bombay Stamp Act,
1958. Different amount of Stamp Duty is payable for different types of document as
per Schedule–I of The Bombay Stamp Act, 1958. Stamp Duty must be paid in full
and on time. If there is a delay in payment of stamp duty, it attracts penalty. A stamp
duty paid document is considered a proper and legal document and as such gets
evidentiary value and is admitted as evidence in court. Document not properly
stamped, is not admitted as evidence by the court.
Different types of stamps.
There are different types of stamps under stamp act having different uses.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
“Share Transfer” Stamps
“Insurance” Stamps
“Notarial” Stamps
“Revenue” Stamps
“Court Fee” Stamps
“Special Adhesive” Stamps.
[6A. “Foreign Bill” Stamps
6B. “Advocate” Stamps, “Vakil” Stamps, “Attorney” Stamps
6C. “Agreement” Stamps, “Brokers Note” Stamps
Note : - Types of stamps mentioned in numbers 6A to 6C exist in rule book with limited use and
are noted here for information only. (See rule 19(a), (c) & (f) of The Bombay Stamp Rules,
1939)]
For payment of stamp duty following methods can also be adopted
7. “Non Judicial” Stamp Paper
8. “Court Fees” Stamp Paper
9. Franking of Stamp Duty
10. Adjudication Certificate.
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2. For all practical purposes Special Adhesive Stamps are used for all types of
documents, however different stamps like Share Transfer Stamps is used on share
transfer forms, Insurance stamps are uses by insurance companies on insurance
policies, Notarial Stamps is used by Public Notary for Notarizing the documents,
revenue stamps are used on receipts above Rs.5,000.
Court fees stamp is not a tax but fees for judicial services granted and is used in all
court, semi-judicial and government office while making applications.
Instead of affixing Stamps for payment of stamp duty even stamp papers can be used.
Non Judicial Stamp paper can be used instead of Special Adhesive stamps and has
the same effect.
Court fees stamp papers are used for court purposes, i.e. it is the method by which
court fees is paid in the court, by way of submitting required amount of stamp paper
to the court.
Now a days instead of physical stamps or stamp papers, Stamp Duty Franking
machine is used to affix Stamp duty by way of impression on blank paper.
Further Stamp duty can also be paid directly to the collector of stamps who affixes
his seal and stamp for the amount received after a procedure called adjudication and
hence the same is called adjudication certificate.
Stamp duty, when payable.
Stamp duty is payable either before execution of the document or on the day of
execution of document or on the next working day of executing such a document.
Execution of a document means putting signatures on the document by the persons
who are party to the document. However it is advisable to pay stamp duty before
executing the document, for all practical purposes.
Penalty for the delayed payment of stamp duty
If stamp duty is not paid on time, it attracts penalty at the rate of 2% per month on the
deficit amount of the stamp duty. However maximum penalty can be only 200% of
the deficit amount of the stamp duty. Minimum penalty is Rs.100.
Documents lodged with the sub-registrar/Collector of stamps prior to any amnesty
scheme will attract a reduced penalty, as applicable under that amnesty scheme, as
the case may be.
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3. Stamp duty, by whom payable.
In the absence of any agreement to the contrary, the purchaser/transferee has to pay
stamp duty or in case of exchange of properties, both parties have to bear stamp duty
equally.
Documents on which stamp duty is to be paid
Under The Bombay Stamp Act, 1959, stamp duty is to be paid on all the documents
by which any right or liability is or purports to be created, transferred, limited,
extended, extinguished or recorded but does not include a cheque, promissory note,
bill of exchange, bill of lading, letter of credit, policy of insurance, transfer of shares,
debentures proxy and receipt, which is charged under Indian Stamp Act, 1899.
Stamp duty payment, document v/s. transaction
Stamp duty is payable on document and not on transactions. Stamp duty should be
charged on the basis of the contents of the document only. If any information
essential for working out stamp duty is missing in the document, stamp duty
valuation officer can ask for the same. Information such as the Carpet or Built-up
area of the flat, number of floors in the building, year of construction, name of
Division/Village and C.S./C.T.S. number of plot of land on which property is situated
must be mentioned in the agreement.
Stamp duty on documents relating to transfer of immovable property
Except transfer by will and by nomination in a co-operative housing society all
transfer documents including agreements to sell, conveyance deed, gift deed,
mortgage deed, exchange deed, deed of partition, power of attorneys, leave and
licence agreement, agreement of tenancy, lease deeds, power of attorney to sell for
consideration etc have to be properly stamped before registration.
In our opinion when a nominee transfers the flat subsequently in the name of legal
heirs, that transfer Document is to be stamped as a Transfer as per Article 59 of
Schedule – I of The Bombay Stamp Act, 1958, as nominee is a trustee and legal heirs
are beneficiary.
If you have purchased a flat in a co-operative housing society on or after 10-12-1985
you have to pay the stamp duty on market value as per the Ready Reckoner. A flat
purchased through an agreement for sale on or before 09-12-1985 required stamp
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4. paper of Rs.5 only. However a flat purchased on or before 09-12-1985 will require
stamp duty on market value at the time of conveyance of the property in favour of the
society. The concept of payment of stamp duty on market value was introduced from
04-07-1980. Property purchased prior to 04-07-1980 will be charged on agreement
value only.
Relevance of the dates 10-12-1985 and 04-07-1980.
A flat purchased in a co-operative housing society on or after 10/12/1985, attracts
stamp duty on market value at the time of signing the agreement itself. However,
prior to 10/12/1985, such transactions of agreement for sale required a stamp paper of
Rs.5 only at the time of signing the agreement. However stamp duty on market value
will have to be paid on all such transactions at the time of conveyance of the property
in favour of the society.
From 04-07-1980 market value concept was introduced to pay stamp duty. However,
prior to 04-07-1980 there was no market value concept hence agreement value was
accepted for stamp duty payment.
Rate of stamp duty.
Stamp duty is chargeable on various documents as per different rates as per
Schedule –I of the Bombay Stamp Act, 1959.
Stamp duty on document relating to sale/purchase of residential flat in a co-operative
housing society and buildings covered under Article 25(d) of Schedule I of Bombay
Stamp Act, 1958, attracts concessional rates depending upon it's market value as
follows.
Market Value of Flat
Upto Rs.2,50,000/Between Rs.2,50,001 to 5,00,000/-
Stamp Duty
Rs.100
Rs.100 + 3% of the value above Rs.2,50,000/-
Rs.5,00,000/-
Rs.7,600/-
Above Rs.5,00,000/-
Rs.7,600 Plus 5% of the value above Rs.5,00,000/-
Stamp Duty on Non-Residential Property is straight away 5% of the market value.
Stamp duty on document relating to Leave & Licence under Article 36A(a)(i)(1) of
Schedule I of Bombay Stamp Act, 1958, for residential property in city of Mumbai is
as follows.
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5. Annual average rent, including
advance rent & deposit
Upto Rs.2,50,000/Between Rs.2,50,001 to 5,00,000/-
Stamp Duty
Rs.750 for each period of 12 months or part thereof
Rs.1,500 for each period of 12 months or part thereof
Between Rs.5,00,001 to 20,00,000/-
Rs.3,000 for each period of 12 months or part thereof
Rs.20,00,001/- & Above
Rs.5,000 for each period of 12 months or part thereof
Stamp Duty on Leave & Licence of Non-Residential Property is double of residential property.
Purchase of stamp paper.
From 01/05/1994 stamp papers are to be purchased in the name of one of the parties
to the document. If the stamp paper is not in the name of the parties and if it is used
for preparing the agreement then such agreement will be treated as if no stamp paper
was used. However, it will not make the agreement invalid and can be enforced in
law if proper stamp duty is paid subsequently. Prior to 01/05/1994 stamp paper could
be purchased in any name.
Validity period of a stamp paper.
Stamp paper purchased upto 30/11/1989 was valid for any period of time. However
from 01/12/1989 all stamp paper (whether purchased before, on or after 01/12/1989)
is valid for a period of six months only from the date of purchase thereafter it is
treated as ordinary paper as if it has no stamp.
However Court fee stamps and Court fee paper is valid for any period of time as there
is no time limit specified in The Bombay Court fees Act, 1959, for its use.
Ascertaining the amount of stamp duty & adjudication.
One can find out the market value of a property and the proper stamp duty with the
help of Stamp Duty Ready Reckoner released every year on 1st January.
One should know the District Name, Taluka Name, Village name and Gat No./
Survey No./ CTS No. as applicable to the property. This information is available
from property card or 7/12 extracts of the land on which the property is situated
and a copy of property card or 7/12 extracts is generally available from the society
office or from Original Builders agreement or original purchase / conveyance
deed.
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6. From the Ready Reckoner, locate valuation zone and sub-zone with the help of the
village name and and Gat No./ Survey No./ CTS No. of the property.
From the Ready Reckoner, find the market rate per square metre, then multiply the
rate with the built-up area of property in square metres. You will get a value.
Reduce or increase this value for lift and depreciation as per valuation factors
given in the Ready Reckoner and you will get the market value. Find out the
stamp duty amount with the help of stamp duty rates table.
The Stamp Duty Ready Reckoner is public document which can be inspected in
the sub-registrar’s office.
The Department also does this procedure, which is known as adjudication.
(i) For adjudication, one can apply to the Collector of Stamps along with a copy
of the agreement containing details of the property.
(ii) Adjudication fees payable is Rs.100/-.
(iii) In case of a signed document, adjudication must be done within one month
otherwise two per cent interest per month will be levied as penalty from the date
of signature.
(iv) An adjudicated unsigned document is valid up to six months from the date of
adjudication order or up to December 31 of that year, whichever is earlier.
Payment of Stamp duty after adjudication.
If the agreement is signed before adjudication, one has to pay stamp duty with
interest and penalty as applicable. However, in the case of an unsigned agreement,
one may ignore the adjudication order and close the matter if so desired.
Stamp duty payable on family transfer.
Stamp duty will be the same as applicable to conveyance. However, in the case of a
gift deed between family members, the stamp duty amount is arrived as per article 25
relating to conveyance or 2% of the market value, whichever is lower.
Stamp duty payment centers.
Stamp duty can be paid legally without adjudication, on the basis of the Stamp Duty
Ready Reckoner, at various banks, post office and financial institutions, who are
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7. granted licenses on this behalf by the Stamp duty department, and does stamp duty
franking on blank documents.
Apart from above offices there are also various authorised stamp vendors from whom
stamp paper of the required amount can be purchased and agreement made on them,
which is another way of paying stamp duty. Stamp vendors sell stamp papers of face
value up to Rs.10,000. A list of Licenced Stamp Vendors is displayed at General
Stamp Office. However it is advisable to pay stamp duty by way of franking for big
amounts for all practical purposes.
Refund of stamp duty
Refund is granted on
(i) spoiled paper,
(ii) blank document,
(iii) document executed but afterwards found to be unfit due to some reason and
(iv) in some cases of documents executed and registered.
as follows.
(a) In case of spoiled paper or blank document whether franked or on stamp paper,
refund should be claimed within six months from the date of purchase of stamp paper
or franked Document.
(b) In case of document executed but afterwards found to be unfit due to some valid
reason, refund should be claimed within six months from the date of purchase of
stamp paper or franked Document.
(c) In case of documents which are executed and registered but for some reason
physical possession of property mentioned in the Document has not been handed over
to the purchaser then in that case refund should be claimed within two years from the
date of document. (Government is considering to grant refund also in case the builder
has cheated the flat buyer)
An application for refund on a standard format should be submitted at the concerned
Collector of Stamps office, along with the original document and an
acknowledgement should be obtained. Subsequently one must follow up with the
officer concerned for early disposal of the case. Standard format of refund application
along with checklist/formats of other papers/affidavits/power of attorney required
with application is available at concerned collector of stamps office.
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8. Refund is granted strictly as per the provisions of section 47 to 52A of The Bombay
Stamp Act, 1958 and relevant rules and notification. Hence one is requested to
thoroughly check about provisions, rules and notifications and treat above
information only as a general guideline.
Collector of Stamps are very strict in regards to refund and a mistake in any of the
refund application paper will lead to rejection of refund hence proper legal help
should be availed if one is not very clear about the provisions of law.
Some consultants claim to get the market value reduced to save a substantial
amount of stamp duty. Is this correct?
Many people are under the impression that some consultants can help them in
reducing the stamp duty. This is warn them that this can be done only by furnishing
misleading information like wrong Gat No. / Survey No. / CTS No., less area of
premises/flat, longer age of building and a building with a lift as not having a lift.
This would prove to be very detrimental and harmful when, in future, they receive a
notice from the department for under-valuation due to concealment of facts. Even a
registered document can be reopened anytime within ten years from the date of
registration and adjudicated documents within six years from the date of adjudication.
Please note that writing misleading information in the agreement is an offence under
the Stamp Act, which is punishable with fine and imprisonment.
Stamp duty payment. Agreement value V/s. Market value.
Stamp duty is payable on the market value of property. Market value of any property
is determined by the stamp duty Authorities on the basis of the Stamp Duty Ready
Reckoner issued by the government every year on January 1. If the consideration
amount is higher than the market value, the consideration amount will be treated as
market value. However where property is sold or allotted by a government or
semi- government body or a government undertaking or a local authority such as LlC,
CIDCO, AMC, the Income Tax Department on the basis of predetermined price, then
that value is accepted as market value for the purpose of stamp duty.
Market value.
Market value in relation to any property which is the subject matter of the document
means the price which such property would have fetched if sold in the open market
on the date of execution of such document or the consideration stated in the
document, whichever is higher. However, for payment of stamp duty, market value is
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9. the value as worked out as per the Stamp Duty Ready Reckoner or the consideration
stated in the document, whichever is higher.
As per Section 50C in the Income Tax Act, the market value for the purpose of
capital gain tax for seller is the same as the market value for stamp duty payment,
which is worked out as per the Stamp Duty Ready Reckoner. Hence it is advisable
that the seller should record the actual selling price worked out with the help of
Ready Reckoner and avoid under-valuation with the intention of saving capital gain
tax.
Further as per newly inserted Section 56(2)(vii) in the Income Tax Act, w.e.f.
01/10/2009 if the difference between the “stamp duty value” and the consideration
amount exceeds Rs.50,000 then such difference shall be treated as income from other
sources of the purchaser of immovable property.
Thus it has become very important for a professional to know all the intricacies of
working of “stamp duty value” as, after recent amendments, now all purchase or sale
of immovable properties will result into litigation with Income Tax authorities as it
will result into higher capital gains tax (Section 50C) for seller & also higher income
tax on Income from other sources (Section 56(2)(vii)) for the purchaser.
Depreciation.
Depreciation is allowed on structure which is more than 2 years old. It is allowed on
the full value of the property which includes land component. Though in realty it is
the structure which depreciates and not the land. Depreciation varies from 5% to
70% of the value. However if by this method, value comes below the land value then
value of land + depreciated cost of construction is taken.
Other additions or deductions to the market value
If the building has lift it’s value will increase by 5% to 20% depending upon the floor
on which the flat is situated.
If the building is only of ground + four floor or less without lift then 2nd, 3rd and 4th
floor qualifies for 5% to 20% deduction.
Stamp duty on exchange of flats.
Stamp duty is payable as per Conveyance Deed on the market value of the property
of the greatest value.
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10. Generally one copy of Exchange Agreement is made and Registered and then various
practical difficulties arise at a later date, like as to who will keep the original, what in
case if one of them wants to take the loan against his flat, what if both of them want
to take loan from different banks for their respective flats, what if the person having
original sells and goes away and new owner does not co-operate with original owner.
Following precautions should be taken to avoid any complications in future.
a) Assuming there is one “Flat-A” owned by “Person AA” and he wants to
exchange it with “Flat-B” owned by “Person BB”. In the Exchange Agreement
there should be a clause where it states that original agreement will be considered
original agreement for “Flat-A” and will remain with it’s new owner “Person BB”
and second copy will be considered original agreement for “ Flat-B” and will
remain with its new owner “Person AA”.
b) Agreements should be made in duplicate. Original Agreement will be charged
with full Stamp Duty and second copy of Agreement will be charged only with
Rs.100.
c) Both of the agreements must be registered. Original agreement will be charged
with full registration fees and second copy will be charged very nominal amount of
registration fees below Rs.500.
d) Both the persons must keep their respective copies and will be free from each
other in all respects without any botherations.
Mode of measurement.
Stamp Duty charged on the basis of Built-up area of the premises. Built-up area is
taken to be 20% more than the carpet area. Hence all the documents must record
either carpet area or Built-up area in Sq.Mtrs only. There is no recognition to Super
built-up area or Saleable area hence the same should be avoided in the agreement to
avoid excess payment of stamp duty.
Rates mentioned in the stamp duty ready reckoner for Land is per Sq.Mtr.
considering F.S.I to be 1 and rates mentioned for buildings whether Residential,
Office, Shop (Commercial) or Industrial are for per Sq.Mtr. Built-up area (Rate is
inclusive of the value of land). Stamp duty should be paid on Built-up area only and
not on carpet area or super built up area.
Previously when it was difficult to determine built-up area and if carpet area was
mentioned in the agreement then the same was increased by 20 percent to arrive at
built-up area. Also if Super Built-up area was mentioned in the agreement then 20
percent was reduced from Super Built-up area i.e. 80 percent of Super built-up area
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11. was Built-up area. But Stamp Duty and Registration department has now withdrawn
above method partially and adopt uniform method as mentioned in valuation factor.
This mode of calculation was primarily a shortcut to an acceptable solution when
built-up area was not mentioned in the document. It should never be adopted to
calculate carpet area from the super built-up area or vice versa, because arithmetically
it will never give correct figure.
Relation Between Square Feet & Square Meter
1 Sq.Mtr. = 10.764 Sq.ft.
1 Sq.Ft. = 0.0929 Sq.Mtr.
REGISTRATION
Registration
As per section 17(1) & Section 17(1A) of The Registration Act, 1908, various
documents relating to transfer of movable and immovable properties are required to
be registered. Registration is legal formality wherein the document, which is required
under the law to be registered, undergoes the following procedure by the SubRegistrar of Assurance of the respective district. After completion of these
procedures, the document is regarded as being registered.
The Sub-Registrar of Assurance does the following:
(i)
He verifies the document to ascertain whether it is legal to register such a
document.
(ii) He further verifies that full stamp duty is paid on that document before
registration.
(iii) In his presence all parties, executing the document, admit that they have
executed the document presented for registration. Parties who are present
and admitting to execute the document are then personally identified by two
independent witnesses. All the parties and all the witnesses present, again
sign in the presence of sub-registrar on an additional page attached to the
document.
(iv) Parties to the document are photographed and their left hand thumb
impression is taken and such photograph and thumb impression is affixed on
additional pages attached to the document apart from coloured photographs
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12. and thumb impression which a person affixes in the agreement while
executing the document. Now a days photographs & left hand thumb
impression of witnesses is also affixed.
(v) He puts his official seal on each page and puts a unique numbering block on
each page of the document including the additional pages. On the last page
he signs the document as being registered.
(vi) After completing the above procedure, he records the content of the
document, including the additional pages, either by photocopying the content
or by scanning the content of the document. The photocopy or scanned
image is permanently retained by him in his records so that in future
whenever a copy of the document is required it can be obtained. Such copy
becomes a public document, which anybody can inspect by paying the
requisite inspection fees and can obtain a certified true copy.
(vii) After taking a copy of the document, as mentioned above, on the record and
after completing the above formalities original document is handed over to
the party for obtaining one photocopy of the registered document. Photocopy
should be taken on only one side of paper and paper should be of 90 GSM
thickness and there should be butter paper in between two sheets of the
photocopy. After original and photocopy is given back to sub-registrar, he
verifies the original and the photocopy and then the original document is
returned to the party presenting the document for registration. This
completes the whole process of registration.
Registration of transfer of immovable properties
Except in case of transfer of shares of a co-operative housing society and housing
limited company where registration is optional, virtually in all cases of transfer of
immovable property like family arrangement, agreement to sell, conveyance, gift
deed, lease deed, leave and licence agreement, tenancy agreement, declaration deed,
mortgage deed, exchange deed, power of attorney to sell for consideration etc has to
be registered compulsorily under Indian Registration Act 1908 otherwise the proper
legal title will not pass on to the purchaser/transferee i.e. the title will be defective if
registration of the document is not done.
Languages of the document.
Document should be normally in English, Hindi, Marathi and Gujarati only, in
Maharashtra.
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13. Effect of non-registration.
If a particular document is required to be registered under the act and is not registered
then as per Section 49 of The Registration Act, 1908, that document becomes
inadmissible in the court of law. In other words it loses its legal validity in the eyes of
law.
Return of registered document.
After February 1, 2002, when the registration process was computerised, normally
documents are returned on the same day within half an hour.
All the documents lodged for registration on and from October 1, 1995 upto January
31, 2002 are returned to the party within a few days of indexing the same because
only the photocopy is sent to Pune for Microfilming / Scanning.
Documents lodged for registration prior to October 1, 1995 are sent to Pune, after it is
indexed, for microfilming / Scanning and then only it is returned to the party, which
may take a few years.
The above mentioned procedure is one of the reasons but the major reasons due to
which the document remained pending at the office of sub-registrar and not being
indexed and not returned to the owner, are as follows:
(a) Stamp duty was not paid according to the “market value”.
(b) Income Tax Clearance certificate U/s 230 was not attached where required.
(See Note (i) below.)
(c) N.O.C. of Appropriate Authority in Form 37-1 was not attached where
required. (See Note (ii) below.)
(d) N.O.C. under Urban Land Ceiling Act was not attached where required. (See
Note (iii) below.)
(e) Certain parties to the agreement had not admitted execution in front of the
Sub-registrar.
The above deficiencies were always pointed out by the sub-registrar at the time
of registration by way of remark (such as MV, 230A, 37-1, NOC, ADM) on the
registration receipt itself but due to ignorance, owners have never cared to clear them
and hence documents have, over the years, got accumulated in the office of the Subregistrar.
With effect from 17/08/2000 Sub-registrars are accepting documents which do
not have any of the deficiencies mentioned under point (a) to (d). However deficiency
relating to non-admission is tolerated and the document is accepted and kept pending
for admission only.
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14. Notes:
(i) Income tax clearance certificate under Section 230A of Income Tax Act, 1961, is now not
required from 01-06-2001 even for documents accepted for registration before 01-06-2001
because requirement for such certificate was on the day of registration and a document is
considered to be registered on the day it is Indexed and if it is not indexed uptill now no
Income Tax Clearance certificate is required even for old cases, hence for all such cases one
should pursue the matter and his document will be registered.
(ii) N.O.C. of Appropriate Authority in Form 37-I is also not required from 01-07-2002. As
above NOC is now unobtainable this is applicable even for old cases.
(iii) Urban Land Ceiling Act is repealed from 6th December 2007 in the state of Maharashtra,
hence producing this N.O.C. is no longer required.
Time limit of registration.
The document should be registered within four months from the date of the
execution. If the document could not be registered within four months, then it can be
registered within an additional period of four months after paying penalty as imposed
by the sub-registrar. Penalty can be legally upto 10 times of registration fees.
Normally this penalty is charged at the rate of 2.5 times of the registration fees per
month for the delay beyond the permissible 4 months.
After a period of 8 months from the date of the execution, the document cannot be
registered.
Registration fee
The registration fee is a fee for the service provided by the sub-registrar's office, of
recording and storing the document for years together and in the proper condition. If
one does not pay registration fees, he will not be able to register the document and
will be deprived of these services but there is as such no penalty for non-payment as
is the case of stamp duty. So whenever a person goes for registration he is charged
the same registration fees as is chargeable on his document on the date of registration
and no interest etc. is charged. However one must keep in mind that when one goes
for registration after four months and before eight months of execution of document
he is charged a penalty which could be up to 10 times of registration fees. This is the
penalty for delay in presenting the document before the registrar and is not a penalty
for non-payment. Normally this penalty is charged at the rate of 2.5 times of the
registration fees per month for delay beyond the permissible 4 months.
The Registration fees is one per cent of the market value or Rs.30,000, whichever is
less in case of documents pertaining to sale or conveyance. This is applicable from
01-04-2003 to date.
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15. Registration fees is payable by Pay-Order and Computer Service charges is to be paid
in cash at the time of registration. Computer service charges at the rate of Rs.20/- per
page is charged in addition to above Registration fees. i.e. if document to be
registered is of property with market value of Rs. 35,00,000/- and having 30 pages
then total registration fees plus service charges would be Rs.30,000/- + Rs.600/- =
30,600/- of which amount an official receipt would be issued. It is advisable that
along with Pay-order exact cash amount should be paid at registration counter in
one’s own interest.
Requirements at the time of registration.
Document should be correctly stamped as per the Stamp Duty Ready Reckoner so as
to confirm that proper stamp duty has been paid. Stamp Duty Ready Reckoner is a
public document and is available for inspection at sub-registrars office, it is easily
available in the market in any law book shop.
For registering documents relating to property, one should go to their respective
Registration Office along with, original document. The document must be printed or
typed on one side only and in black colour.
Apart from a properly executed and fully stamp duty paid document which is to be
registered following other documents are also required before registration procedure
is initiated.
(1) If the land belongs to Government or Semi-government body or to Charitable
trust, the No Objection Certificate of such Government or Semi-government
body or of Charity Commissioner. (This requirement is struck down by the Hon.
Supreme Court, however this document is still asked under some pretext or the other.)
(2) Property Card of the Land on which the property is situated. This requirement
is irrespective of whether land is sold or building is being sold or any part of
the building is being sold and also irrespective of whether the seller of property
is recorded as owner on property card or not. In other words even flat owners
are expected to produce this paper at the time of registration.
(3) If property sold/purchased is in old building and benefit of depreciation is
claimed on Market value then photocopy of any one of the following
documents is to be produced as a proof of old construction
(a) Municipal assessment bill of the building OR
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16. (b) Building Completion certificate OR
(c) Building Occupation Certificate OR
It is better to get the document adjudicated in case building is very old and
proper depreciation is not given by the sub-registrar.
(4) Original stamp duty payment receipt.
(5) One should go along with two witnesses along with their photographs,
identification and residence proofs like pan card, ration card, driving licence
etc.
(6) Photocopy of Commencement Certificate or Completion Certificate or
Occupation Certificate or I.O.D issued by the Municipal Corporation is
required to prove that the Building is an authorized structure. (This requirement is
struck down by the Hon. Supreme Court, however this document is still asked under some
pretext or the other.)
(7) Registration fees is payable by Pay-Order and Computer Service charges is to
be paid in cash at the time of registration
(8) Mentioning of Income Tax PAN number is mandatory in all case of sale /
purchase document of value above Rs.5,00,000/-. Those who do not have PAN
number must file Form 60 along with documents.
(9) For property value above Rs.30,00,000/- an additional input form is to be filled
so that the sub-registrar can comply with formalities of All India Return under
Income Tax Act.
Process of registration.
(a) Visit the sub-registrar’s office with your document and he will inform you about
the amount of registration fees payable. He will also inform you about Stamp
Duty amount payable. Obtain a Pay-order of specified amount favouring that
Sub-registrar for registration fees. Pay specified stamp duty on the document.
(b) Take input form for registration from the registrar.
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17. (c) Fix up appointment for registration 1 or 2 days prior to the intended date of
registration. Submit a photocopy of pay-order for registration fees on the day of
taking appointment.
(d) On appointed date and time bring complete document along with other documents
mentioned above.
(e) Submit the document along with input form at token window at least 30 minutes
before the time allotted for that token number.
d)
On appointed time and on your number being announced all parties to the
document must present themselves before the sub-registrar to admit execution of
the document, photographed, thumb impression and signature taken on additional
sheet of paper in presence of sub-registrar. Now even witness has to provide his 2
colour photograph and identification proof like pan card , driving licence etc.
(f) Pay the exact registration fees by way of Government Challan or Pay Order and
computer service charges in cash as per the receipt. (Computer service charges
are @ Rs.20 per page)
(g) Document will be returned within 30 minutes of getting the receipt.
(h) Please deal only with officers and staff of Registration department who always
display government identity card with government seal.
If any person who has executed the document is unable to come to Subregistrars office on medical grounds then what should he do?
In case a person is unable to attend the office of Sub-registrar on medical grounds
then he should apply to sub-registrar through a duly authorised representative stating
the fact. Sub-registrar is bound to visit such person after office hours i.e. morning
9.00 am to 10.00 am and in evening 5.00 pm to 6.00 pm. That person shall admit
execution in presence of that Sub-registrar, affix his photograph and sign and put his
thumb impression on the document. Sub-registrar will take the document along with
him and complete all the formalities and process of registration.
Procedure if more than eight months of signing the document have passed.
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18. If more than eight months have passed since execution of document then the
document cannot be registered. However to safeguard and protect the interest of the
purchaser from any claim by seller or his legal heirs in future both the parties to the
documents should prepare a deed of confirmation and the said document should be
attached as an annexure to the said deed of confirmation. Both the parties should
register the deed of confirmation to which the original agreement has been annexed.
Original document must have been fully stamped and penalty upto the date of
registration/adjudication must have been paid.
In such a case it is the deed of confirmation which is considered as registered and
agreement annexed is not registered, however in future selling party will not be able
to raise any objection to such an transfer on grounds of non-registration.
If vendor dies after signing the document but before registration.
In such unfortunate circumstances there are two options.
a) All the legal heirs of the deceased vendor should apply to court for
probate/succession certificate and appeal to the court for passing and order granting
one of the legal heirs right to admit execution in front of Sub-registrar on behalf of
the deceased vendor.
This option, although is the most correct option, but as observed, court procedures do
sometime take very long time to complete and meanwhile mandatory 4 months
period under which the registration can be done passes away. Some time extended
period of next 4 months also passes away till the time court gives its order.
b) Under above circumstances, second best option is that the purchaser should get the
document registered single sided and then make a deed of confirmation stating the
fact of the circumstances and should be signed by the purchaser and all the legal heirs
of the vendor and this deed of confirmation along with copy of original single sided
registered document attached to it as annexure should be got registered. This will
prevent all the legal heirs, in future, from claiming any right in the property.
Certified copies of document/search report/Index II.
One must approach the concerned Sub-Registrar and make the required application at
his office.
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19. In case the document/search report/Index II copy required is relating to period prior
to 01-02-2002 then the same will be available with in 7 days of making application. .
In case the document/search report/ Index II copy required is relating to period after
01-02-2002 then the same will be available on the same day of making application
between 5.00 P.M. to 5.30.P.M.
Office timings of Sub-Registrars are 10.00 am to 5.45 Pm.
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