BENGALURU: The registration cost of properties in the state will double from Sunday. The state government had issued a notification on August 29 stating that the registration fee of properties will increase from 1% to 2%, with effect from August 31.
The notification was made public on August 30. Interestingly, various sub-registrar offices in the state had shut operations from Friday 4 pm citing maintenance works. Services in most of the sub-registrar offices resumed from 4 pm on Saturday.
Sources in the stamps and registration offices said: “We had stopped registration of properties as revisions as per notifications were to be made on servers. The services were resumed from Saturday 4 pm onwards. But the number of people who came was less as many were under the assumption that the offices close on Saturday afternoon.”
Another sub-registrar said there was a debate among the officials whether to shut operations or not as it was equivalent of denying the right to people. “However, at many places services were hindered and so property registrations saw a lull since Friday evening till Saturday evening,” the official said.
Citing an example, Manandi Suresh, a real estate expert from FKCCI said: “The registration cost of property depends on guidance value and market value. A flat in most places in Bengaluru costs Rs one crore, then the registration cost which was Rs 1 lakh will now increase to Rs 2 lakh.” He added that lease/ rental agreements, advance registration charges and even bank registration charges will also increase from 1% to 2%.
With this the state government is looking to earn additional revenue of around Rs 3,000 crore, from August 31 to March 31, 2026, said Munish Moudgil, Principal Secretary, Revenue Department.
Registration fee in Karnataka lower than other states: official
Munish Moudgil said this was done as the registration fee in Karnataka is lower than that of other states. It is 2% in Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Telangana (rural). The overall registration cost in Karnataka is also less. It is 6.65% in Karnataka while in Tamil Nadu it is 9%, Kerala 10% and 7.5% in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.
Mullai Muhilan MP, Inspector General of Registration and Commissioner of Stamps and Registration, said, “The last revision in registration fee was done in 2013, when it was reduced from 2% to 1%. Now it has been brought back to its old rates and the other slabs have not been changed.” However, experts, property owners and citizens have criticised the decision of the state government and said that this is exposing the financial situation of the government.
FKCCI Chairman G Balakrishna said: “The hike in registration fee will have an adverse impact on the state’s development. Though the government says it is just 1%, but in cash it is very high. Also, while there will not be an immediate impact, subsequent dip in registrations will be seen as people will start to compare with other states. The present cost of registering a property in Karnataka will now increase from 6.65% to 7.65%, which is a huge impact on property owners.”
Vikram Rai, president of Bangalore Apartments Federation, said, “Now, a property owner pays 40-45% above the property cost. This is because of various charges- taxes, cess, registration fee, permission, etc. This is nearly half of the property cost, now any additional charge will be in place. The real estate value is very high in Bengaluru and this hike will also give scope to black transactions as people will start to undervalue their properties to save charges,” he said.
Swathi B, a property owner, said: “Already the government has increased water tariff, electricity charges, fire NOC, milk charges, commercial vehicle registration cost and we also have to pay to convert khata document to e-khata. Now doubling the registration cost will further escalate the sky-high property charges in Bengaluru.”