Uttar Pradesh extends policy for property transfer to kin at minimal cost

According to finance minister Suresh Khanna, the administration decided to resurrect the program on Tuesday after it had only been in place for six months at first. LUCKNOW: A program implemented by the government in June 2022 that allowed residents of Uttar Pradesh to transfer property to blood relations for a registration fee of just Rs 5,000 has been reinstated and extended for an indeterminate period by the state cabinet. According to finance minister Suresh Khanna, the administration decided to resurrect the program on Tuesday after it had only been in place for six months at first. If the transfer is made to a son, daughter, father, mother, husband, wife, daughter-in-law, true brother, sister, son-in-law, or grandchild, there will be a registration charge of Rs 5,000 and an extra processing fee of Rs 1,000. Prior to this change, any transfer of property to a resident of the state was subject to a 7% stamp duty registration fee. "In the past, I could only sell or transfer a property to my child or another close family if I wished to give it to them. Even when there was no exchange of money and the same individuals were still living in the home, a high rate of stamp duty was levied in cases of transfer before death, making it illegal for people to divide property or settle ownership prior to death. The issue would be resolved by the new rule, according to stamp and registration minister Ravindra Jaiswal, who spoke to TOI. People will find it easier to transfer properties and resolve ownership while they are still living as a result of the change. It won't lead to unneeded conflict among families over the will, a representative said. According to a senior government official, families frequently use 'powers of attorney' to transfer property because the fee of registration is so expensive. Such a decision was costing the government a great deal of money even though it was quite inexpensive. "For instance, stamp registration would cost about Rs 4.2 lakh when transferring a property valued Rs 50 lakh. Only about Rs 100 is required to purchase a power of attorney. With the new rule, even though they would have to shell out Rs 6,000, they had the option of a legal and clean transfer of property,” he said.