- Murthy, the Tamil Nadu Minister for Commercial Taxation and Business Registration, convened a review meeting with registration officials to explore avenues for enhancing revenue through property registrations, particularly in the recovering context following the second wave of COVID-19. In the previous year, the first wave of the pandemic led to a four-month suspension of land registrations, severely impacting operations.
The meeting specifically addressed strategies to boost revenue streams, especially given that the reopening of registration offices occurred more swiftly than it did in 2020.
During the pandemic fiscal year 2020-21, revenues from stamp duty and registration fees reached Rs. 10,643 crores from April 2020 to March 2021, highlighting a decline of approximately 3.6% compared to the 2019-2020 fiscal year, during which Rs. 11,028 crores were generated.
Sources indicate officials have been directed to ensure that properties belonging to temples, which fall under the purview of the Hindu Department of Religious and Charitable Endowments, as well as poramboke lands, are not registered under Section 22-A of the Registration Act (Tamil Nadu Amendment Act). This particular law simplifies the re-registration of lands previously labeled as "house sites" in earlier transactions. The sources also mentioned an initiative to facilitate same-day document returns to eliminate any possible delays, along with measures aimed at preventing tardiness among staff and a newly established grievance control room.
Furthermore, the meeting saw participation from notable officials, including Registration Secretary B. Jothi Nirmalasamy, General Registrar M.P. Sivanarul, along with other senior registration department officials.