Registration offices shall remain open on Ananat Chaturdasi, normally in City, they are shut on Visarjan Day. But with 2% stamp duty announcement and Pitrupaksha starting from September 2, the offices shall remain open on September 1.
By Varun Singh
If you are worried that September 1, being Visarjan Day the registration offices in city are going to remain shut or open, then here’s the answer.
They shall remain open on September 1, which is the day of Visarjan of Mumbai’s favourite Lord Ganesha.
The crowd at registration offices on Tuesday September 1, is going to be huge at least that is what real estate industry experts say.
The reason behind the crowd is being attributed to the first day for people to take benefit of the reduced stamp duty rates.
Plus from September 2, Pitrupaksha starts, during which many do not carry out important work including registering homes.
No wonder, that Inspector General For Registration (IGR) has announced that offices including those in Mumbai city and Suburban Mumbai shall remain functional.
When asked IGR Omprakash Deshmukh, he said, “It’s (Anant Chaturdasi) is a local holiday in 8 districts in Maharashtra. We have instructed that all offices will remain open and functional tomorrow (September 1).”
On August 26, 2020, the state government announced a stamp duty rate cut for the state of Maharashtra.
According to it, for the period between September 1, to December 31, the stamp duty shall be reduced by 3%. The same will be reduced by 2% between January 1, 2021 to March 31, 2021.
Which means if one buys a flat worth Rs 1 crore, in Mumbai he would pay stamp duty (till August 31, 2020) at 5% which would be Rs 5 lakh. Now till December 31 from September 1, the stamp duty will be Rs 2 lakh and the same would be Rs 3 lakh between January 1, 2021 to March 31, 2021.
Explaining the reason why there could be a rush and the government deciding to keep registration offices open on September 1, Developer Arvind Goel says, “Since last one week, many have kept on hold the registration because they would be saving a lot of money. Also from Wednesday Pitrupaksha starts, during this period, people mostly avoid registering properties.”
Goes says many would rush to the registration offices on Spetember 1 and get their properties registered.
Even Deepali Gupta Rathod a homebuyer who had kept her registration on hold, spent her entire Monday only to find out that whether the offices are functional or not. However, finally it is relief for her and also for many others who wish to register their property on Tuesday.
For them this move by government will come as a huge respite, as the offices are open and they can register their documents.