Telangana registration department stares at Rs 200-crore revenue decline

HYDERABAD: With its activities halted due to the lockdown, the Telangana Registration and Stamps Department is staring at an estimated revenue loss of Rs 200 crore.

Though senior officials had expected that registration work would be exempted from the lockdown, the government has issued orders to temporarily cease the department’s regular operations. 

A district-level official of the department in Hyderabad said that a severe financial crisis was looming large, as the slots reserved by registration applicants for May were cancelled. “We estimate that the department will lose a revenue of Rs 200 crore during the lockdown. As the month of May had several auspicious days, thousands of applicants had booked slots online. In adherence to the government’s decision, we have shut down the registration process entirely,” the official said.

As many as 141 sub-registration offices are located across the State, and thousands of slots were booked in Medchal-Malkajgiri, Rangareddy, Warangal, Karimanagar, Medak, Nalgonda and other districts for registration of properties in May.

Officials who were pleased with the increased revenue of `650 crore in April were in for a disappointment due to the second lockdown. They, however, have expressed their willingness to cooperate with the government to put an end to the Covid-19 crisis.