Fake land value: Landowners to face action from August

Thiruvananthapuram: The state government will take action against people who give fake value of land while registering title deeds. If the internal audit identifies financial loss from such irregularities, the government will levy the amount from the land owners.

This new rule will apply for registration of title deeds from August. As per the new rule, stamp duty will be levied from the land owner within 10 years and the registration fee within 3 years from the title deed registration. For this purpose, the government amended the Kerala Stamp Act and approved the audit manual. Auditing will be strictly carried out to identify irregularities. If any officials are found to have caused revenue loss to the government, disciplinary action will be taken against them.

The revenue deputy inspector will examine the audit reports. Even retired employees will face action. If revenue loss is found, a notice will be served to the land owner. Following this, a hearing will be held and procedures, including revenue recovery, will be initiated if the land owner fails to pay the amount.

The land owner can file an appeal to registration IG and the government in such circumstances. 

The registering officer is responsible to levy the loss from parties.

It is learnt that the land owners used to hide the details like PWD road near the land to reduce the stamp paper cost while registering the title deed. Such irregularities will be identified in the internal auditing. Uniform internal auditing will be implemented in 315 sub-registrar offices across the state by next month.