Maharashtra government increases Ready Reckoner rates for Mumbai, rest of the state by average 7-8%

MUMBAI: The government of Maharashtra has increased the Ready Reckoner rates for Mumbai and rest of Maharashtra by average 7-8%. In Mumbai, the country’s most expensive property market, the rates used for property valuation have been increased by 7%. The rates have been increased by 4% for Navi Mumbai, while for Pune the average hike is at 6%, said two officials of revenue department.

Ready-reckoner rates are assessments of property value by the state government on the basis of which stamp duty and registration charges are paid. The government usually revises these rates every year.

In 2014, these rates were increased by up to 22% following 27% hike in 2013. In December 2015; the state government had deferred the decision on revising ready-reckoner rates to April from the usual practice of year end in the backdrop of a sluggish property market, providing relief to homebuyers in Maharashtra already coping with unaffordable prices.

This upward revision in ready-reckoner rates would result in homebuyers paying more stamp duty. Apart from this, developers also usually pass on increases in project expenditure to consumers.

Various levies and charges, including premium for floor space index and development charges paid by builders too, are calculated based on ready-reckoner rates. Any rise in these levies would increase a project's cost, which developers would try to recover from consumers.