State govt doubles document handling fee, consumer groups decry move

Pune: The Maharashtra govt has doubled the document handling fee for property registrations — from Rs 20 to Rs 40 per page — with immediate effect, triggering sharp criticism from consumer groups and service providers.
A govt resolution issued on Tuesday, signed by joint secretary Satyanarayan Bajaj, cited rising operational costs due to growing scale of digitisation in the registration and stamps department as the key reason for the hike in the document handling fee.
Officials said that the hike was aimed at recovering costs linked to infrastructure maintenance, including hardware, software, consumables, and skilled technical manpower. However, consumer groups said that the govt was unfairly burdening citizens under the guise of modernisation.
"The department has undergone massive computerisation since 2001. Maintaining servers, networks, and software systems now require a robust three-tier support system at the district, regional, and state level," said a senior official. "This fee revision is necessary to sustain that infrastructure," he said.
All digitisation-related expenses—including expert consultants—are managed through the department's self-registered accounts under the build-use-transfer model adopted in July 2015. The establishment of an integrated project management unit under the revenue department in April 2022 also added to the operational costs, the GR stated.
The Inspector General of Registration and Controller of Stamps, Pune, recommended the fee hike, pointing to an increase in workload following the opening of 200 new sub-registrar offices across the state since 2001.
"The state already collects 7% of the property value through stamp duty and registration charges. Charging Rs 40 per page for scanning documents is nothing short of fleecing the common man," said Sachin Shingvi, president, Association of Service Providers, Maharashtra.
Shingvi also flagged the inconsistencies in the fee structure. "For example, rental agreements, where no scanning or document handling is required, are charged Rs 300 per document. This is completely unjustified."
Consumer rights activists have demanded greater transparency in how the department calculates and utilises these fees. Some have even suggested that the govt should bear these digital infrastructure cost instead of passing them on to the public. Shrikant Joshi, a consumer activist, said, "There was no need to increase the fee in the current scenario and the justification provided by the department is absolutely silly." A senior department official defended the fee revision, calling it "essential" to maintain seamless digital operations. The official, however, declined to comment on the Rs 300 charge for rental agreements.
Pune: The Maharashtra govt has doubled the document handling fee for property registrations — from Rs 20 to Rs 40 per page — with immediate effect, triggering sharp criticism from consumer groups and service providers.
A govt resolution issued on Tuesday, signed by joint secretary Satyanarayan Bajaj, cited rising operational costs due to growing scale of digitisation in the registration and stamps department as the key reason for the hike in the document handling fee.
Officials said that the hike was aimed at recovering costs linked to infrastructure maintenance, including hardware, software, consumables, and skilled technical manpower. However, consumer groups said that the govt was unfairly burdening citizens under the guise of modernisation.
"The department has undergone massive computerisation since 2001. Maintaining servers, networks, and software systems now require a robust three-tier support system at the district, regional, and state level," said a senior official. "This fee revision is necessary to sustain that infrastructure," he said.
All digitisation-related expenses—including expert consultants—are managed through the department's self-registered accounts under the build-use-transfer model adopted in July 2015. The establishment of an integrated project management unit under the revenue department in April 2022 also added to the operational costs, the GR stated.
The Inspector General of Registration and Controller of Stamps, Pune, recommended the fee hike, pointing to an increase in workload following the opening of 200 new sub-registrar offices across the state since 2001.
"The state already collects 7% of the property value through stamp duty and registration charges. Charging Rs 40 per page for scanning documents is nothing short of fleecing the common man," said Sachin Shingvi, president, Association of Service Providers, Maharashtra.
Shingvi also flagged the inconsistencies in the fee structure. "For example, rental agreements, where no scanning or document handling is required, are charged Rs 300 per document. This is completely unjustified."
Consumer rights activists have demanded greater transparency in how the department calculates and utilises these fees. Some have even suggested that the govt should bear these digital infrastructure cost instead of passing them on to the public. Shrikant Joshi, a consumer activist, said, "There was no need to increase the fee in the current scenario and the justification provided by the department is absolutely silly." A senior department official defended the fee revision, calling it "essential" to maintain seamless digital operations. The official, however, declined to comment on the Rs 300 charge for rental agreements.