An elaborate exercise is under way to revise the Market Value Guidelines (MVG) of immovable properties in Tamil Nadu. The MVG is expected to soar, considering the increase in the cost of land across the State, Registration Department sources said.
The process was initiated soon after the Madras High Court quashed a circular of the Inspector-General of Registration to collect stamp duty and registration charges on the basis of the guideline values fixed for lands in 2012, without following a decision taken in 2017 to reduce the value by 33%.
The sources said that the Valuation Sub-Committees headed by the Collectors in all the districts were preparing the draft guideline values under the provisions of the Tamil Nadu (Constitution of Valuation Committee for Estimation, Publication and Revision of Market Value Guidelines of Properties) Rule 4(2). The process was expected to be completed in 15 days, after which the State-level Valuation Committee would approve the revised MVG.
For the purpose of preparing the MVG of properties, the Valuation Committee was constituted under Section 47-AA of the Tamil Nadu Act 13 of 2008, which came into effect on June 1, 2010. Accordingly, the Valuation Committee was the final authority for the formulation of the policy, methodology and administration of the MVG, and may constitute a Valuation Sub-Committee in each district, comprising such members as may be prescribed, for estimation and revision of the MVG, the sources said.
Explaining the process of revising the guideline values, the sources said that inquiries would be made with locals having adequate knowledge of the subject. “The inquiries shall be made with at least five persons from various places in the same village. Among the values ascertained from them, a reasonable and realistic figure shall be adopted for the purpose of fixing the guideline value. Unreasonable and motivated information on values shall be strictly ignored,” a senior official said.
Citing procedures, the official said that the sales statistics of properties in each category, such as agricultural, residential, commercial, etc. recorded in the past two years would be prepared. Fancy values and unreasonable rates would not be considered. “Based on these two factors, a reasonable and realistic value would be arrived at and proposed as the draft MVG for approval,” the official said.
Registrants’ objections
In cases where the registrant did not accept the guideline values, there was a recourse provision under Section 47A(1) of the Indian Stamp Act. However, the number of such objections had declined over the years. The number of objections raised by the applicants, which was 10,381 out of a total of 7.95 lakh registrations in 2017-18, reduced to 3,083 out of the 14.13 lakh registrations in 2023-24. “It can be inferred from this data that the MVG was accepted by the registrants in a majority of the cases, which also implies that the value is not more than the prevailing market value,” the official said.
He said that the MVG being followed did not reflect the real market value, which could lead to evasion of stamp duty/transfer duty and unreasonableness in the grant of compensation in land acquisition cases.
Quashing the order of the Inspector-General of Registrations stating that the MVG of 2012 had been restored, the court had pointed to non-compliance with Rules 3, 4 and 5 of the Tamil Nadu Stamp Rules, 2010, and wondered how the Valuation Committee had arrived at the value without adequate inputs from the Valuation Sub-Committees on the prevailing market rates.
The court directed the State to follow the MVG fixed with effect from June 9, 2017, till the Valuation Committee revises the same by following due process. It ruled that the documents already registered during the period from the date of the circular (March 30, 2023) and the date of the judgment stood excluded. Consequently, no one was entitled to claim a refund of the stamp duty already paid for registering documents based on the circular.
When asked whether the MVG was revised and restored to the 2017 value after the court order, the official said that no changes were made in the software, and the status quo was being maintained.
