GMDA wants stamp duty share, seeks govt’s nod

Gurgaon: Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) has sent a proposal to the state government, seeking its approval to split the stamp duty charges between the authority and the Municipal Corporation of Gurgaon (MCG). This move is aimed at creating a new revenue source for GMDA which is currently wading through financial troubles.
The proposal has been under discussion for a while now and it was also discussed at the recent GMDA meeting in Chandigarh. “Around ten days ago, we sent the proposal to the state government for a final approval. Once the approval is given, 1% of the stamp duty charges on all transactions will come to GMDA,” said a senior GMDA official.
The proposal to split the charges with MCG was made so as to not to put additional burden on property owners. However, there are two issues with the proposal. Firstly, it has been opposed by MCG, especially the municipal councillors. Secondly, until a couple of years ago, MCG itself was struggling to get the stamp duty charges transferred to its account from the state government. As of now, MCG is entitled to 2% stamp duty charges on the land transactions taking place within the boundaries of the municipal corporation.
GMDA has been staring at financial troubles for a while now. TOI had earlier reported that the two-year-old authority is currently seeing a Rs 300 deficit in income in the 2019-20 fiscal year as compared to the estimated expenses. While the estimated expenditure is Rs 1,443 crore, the estimated income is only around Rs 1100 crore.
Of the Rs 1100 crore, around Rs 250 crore is pending from MCG, another 120 crore in water charges, Rs 20 crore in sundry charges, Rs 120 crore conversion charges, and Rs 20 crores in interest income, and Rs 534.90 crore in external development charges. In the past two years, GMDA has not received any funds from the department of town and country planning (DTCP).
“We have received around Rs 130 crore from DTCP till now and more funds are expected. Once the EDC funds start flowing in and the stamp duty charges are transferred to GMDA accounts, we will have substantial funds to meet our expenditure demands,” said the official.