Hyderabad: High stamp duty charges sting Secunderabad Cantonment locals

Hyderabad: The residents of Secunderabad Cantonment are up in arms against the Secunderabad Cantonment Board for collecting 3.5 per cent more stamp duty charges on property registration compared to what the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation was charging. Locals alleged that inspite of taking more charges, the SCB was failing to provide them basic amenities.

According to locals, in GHMC,the stamp duty charges for registration of properties is 7.5 percent, but in SCB, it is 11 percent, which is 3.5 percent more than the GHMC in spite of the fact that SCB fails to provide proper facilities like health centres, regular water supply, proper roads and many more.

The main reason for the higher charges is the Transfer of Property Tax (TPT), which is part of the registration charges. While it is 5 per cent in Secunderabad Cantonment area, it is only 2 per cent across the State. "These extra charges are a burden on us.Why we should pay more when we are deprived of basic amenities and infrastructure? This extra burden should be reduced.We have been requesting the officials concerned to collect the registration charges akin to the charges collected by the GHMC, or better, if they merge the SCB with GHMC," said A Srinivas, a resident of Secunderabad Cantonment.

"These extra charges are burdening the common man. Even after taking extra charges, the locals are not provided with basic amenities. We are vexed up with sending representations to the officials concerned seeking slash in the stamp duty charges. But none seems to bother about our pleas. The only better solution we can think of is the merger of SCB with GHMC," added Ravinder, another resident of the Cantonment.