PUNE: Transferring a property in the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) limits is likely to get costlier as the civic administration has decided to double the charges.
A proposal has been tabled by the civic administration before the standing committee meeting on Tuesday. A majority of the transfers are done in the ‘open occupancy’ and ‘transfer of property to heir’ category.
Transfer charges depend on the property tax charges. The fees to transfer a property (which has an annual property tax up to Rs 500) is Rs 500. These fees will be increased to Rs 1,000.
If the property tax amount goes beyond a limit (Rs 500) then the civic administration charges an additional fee of Rs 15 for every Rs 100. This additional fee will also be hiked. The new additional charges will be Rs 30 instead of Rs 15.
The civic administration has introduced a new section, where the property owners will have to pay fees for changes or correction in the names of owners.
Nearly Rs 15 crore is collected from such transfers. The property tax department hopes to increase the revenue with these changes.
Property tax is one of the main sources of revenue for the civic body. Income generation from this department has assumed significance for the civic body as the government has announced its decision that local body tax (LBT) will be abolished from August 2015.
The civic administration has been taking various initiatives to generate more income from property tax, with special emphasis on recovery of dues.
Pune has 7.8 lakh properties, including residential houses (self-occupied or rented out), office buildings, factory buildings, open plots, flats and shops, on which the levy is charged.
“The civic administration has not changed the rates for transfers for 15 years. In most cases, it will be a one- time charge. So the increase will not impact the citizens,” said a senior official of the property tax department.
