Thiruvananthapuram: The fair value fixed by the Kerala Government for land in the prominent area of the State capital, where a cent of land has a market price of nearly Rs 1 crore, is Rs 10 lakh per cent! But the fair value fixed by the government for a cent of land near the Swaraj Round in Thrissur is Rs 1 crore. Also, the fair value of Rs 11 lakh for a cent in Wayanad is higher than the value in the capital.
Fair value is the estimated price at which an asset is bought or sold. Often there is a wide difference between the fair value and the market price at which the land is bought and sold. But the wide variations in the fair value fixed for land in the capital city and in places even in less commercially attractive places are illogical.
Unfair, unscientific valuation
The government seems oblivious to the fact that the highest fair value in 10 districts is higher than the highest fair value in the capital. The government, which mops up revenue by raising the fair value in each budget, has not made any efforts to reform the valuation system on a scientific basis. Though committees were constituted two times for the purpose, no report has been submitted till now. When those who buy land by spending crores of rupees get concessions in land transaction expenses, the increasing fair value of land is a burden on the common man.
Owing to the unscientific nature of the fair value declared by the government in 2010, the value remains higher than the market price. The fair value of most of these lands is not worth even one-tenth of the actual market price.
Impact on registration fee
The registration fee will go steeply high from April 1 for lands bought in areas where the fair value is higher than the market rate. This is because the fair value has been raised by 20% in the budget. The government fixed the fair value of lands in 2010 in an arbitrary manner and has been raising it regularly. Unless the basic fair value is reassessed, this issue cannot be resolved.
264% increase in 13 years
This is the sixth time the fair value is being raised after the system came into effect in 2010. It was raised by 50% in 2014. Later, it was raised by 10% each regularly. The present fair value is 220% of the 2010 value. The 10% increase from April 1 will be imposed over and above this. With this, the fair value will become 264% of the basic value fixed in 2010.
The stamp duty at the rate of 8% of the fair value and the registration fee of 2% is charged at the time of land transaction. The fair value of land which is Rs 1,00,000 at present, will become Rs 1,20,000 in April. With this, Rs 12,000 will have to be paid as registration fee in place of Rs 10,000 at present.
