Registrar offices to function on auspicious holidays, property registration to cost extra

To boost revenue during auspicious Tamil festival days, the Commercial Department has instructed registrar offices to work during three national holidays, including Tamil New Year (Chithrai Mudhal Naal - April 14), Aadi Perukku (September 8), Thai Poosam (January 18, 2022) and collect additional charges from the public registering properties.

A GO issued by the Principal Secretary of the Commercial Tax Department Beela Rajesh, directed the registration department to keep all offices open on these three days and collect additional fees applicable as per the table of fees already prescribed by the government. The state has considered the request by the registrar stating that the functioning of registrar offices on the auspicious days will help public register properties. According to Registration Department sources, there are 578 sub-registrar offices TN. The annual revenue of the registration department is around Rs 11,000 crore.

However, the move has not gone down well with several government staff. Deepavali, Christmas and Ramzan are also auspicious days and if this trend continues there will be no national or public holidays for us, violating labour laws, fumed a government staff in Chennai. “Those who are corrupt will love to work on an auspicious day to make a quick buck, but for me, my one-day holiday with the family is gone,” the bureaucrat said. “In a year there are more than 20 auspicious days which accounts for about 25% of the overall document registrations. The workload is usually high during Amavasais and Fridays where working hours are also extended. The objective is to help the public and earn additional revenue, said an official, stating that the practice has been around for many years. Even the Hindu Religious and Charities Endowment Department collects special darshan fees in temples on auspicious days.

It’s a welcome move by the Department as the public wish to register properties on auspicious days. It would be better if the government does not collect extra charges for working on a holiday. This rate differs in areas and is calculated with the guideline value, ” said D Vijayakumar, a real estate promoter based in Tambaram.