Buying houses will be dearer in Mumbai as the State government on Tuesday cleared a Bill, without discussion, to increase stamp duty on property transfers by 1%. The extra money will be transferred to transport infrastructure projects planned in the city.
To ensure public projects like the coastal road, Metro, monorail and freeways have enough funds, a surcharge will be added to the stamp duty charged for the sale, gift and rental transactions of properties.
The Bill was passed without discussion as it was presented amid sloganeering from Opposition and ruling party MLAs over the issue of Maratha reservation.
Leader of Opposition Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil said that the government acted in an authoritarian manner and similarly pushed eight other Bills too. “We were not given a chance to speak. This is not how Bills are cleared,” he said.
Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Ajit Pawar said,“It is important that every Bill is discussed in detail. Every aspect should be scrutinised and that is our work. But they didn’t want it to be discussed,” he said.
However, Parliamentary Affairs minister Girish Bapat said the Oppositioncreated the ruckus and the government had stopped them for speaking on the Bill.