Acts and Rules Administered :

 

Acts and Rules Administered :

This Directorate primarily administers the following Acts and Rules:

1. The Registration Act, 1908 (Act XVI of 1908)

The earliest record of systematic registration in this Presidency is found in the

"Rule, Ordinance

and Regulations

" passed in Council on 9th January, 1781 and registered in the Supreme Court of

Judicature in Bengal on 1

st February, 1781 for establishing certain regulations "for the better

management of the affairs of the East India Company as well in India as in Europe.

" The objects

of this Regulation of 1781 were to supply the want of registry of houses, lands and estates within

that settlement and to prevent fraud. Mr. Edward Tire Ta was appointed the first Surveyor and

was entrusted with the duties as a Surveyor and Registrar of lands, houses etc. in the settlement

and also as a Registrar of the memorials of deeds affecting such lands etc.

By Act VIII of 1871, the office of the Registrar General was abolished under the altered

designation of

"Inspector General of Registration" as an office of record and registry and the

limitation of the duties to inspection and general superintendence.

After several amendments, the present Registration Act (XVI of 1908) came into force on 1

st

January 1908. The provisions relating to the registration of documents were scattered about in

seven enactments and the object of passing of this Act was to collect these provisions and

incorporate them in one Act. Even after that it has gone through several amendments and the

Registration Act, 1908 was adapted with some changes finally.

The objects of the law of registration are :

(a) to provide conclusive guarantee of the genuineness of document ;

(b) to afford publicity to transactions;

(c) to prevent frauds;

(d) to afford facility of ascertaining whether a property has already been dealt with; and

(e) to afford security of title deeds and facility of proving titles in case the original deeds are lost

or destroyed.

But

(a) Registration is not by itself absolute proof of the execution of a document;

(b) mere registration does not prove title nor prove bonafides;

(c) registration does not confer validity upon an instrument which is otherwise ultra vires or

illegal or fraudulent.

There are XV parts and 91 sections in the Registration Act, which deal with the Registration

Establishment, registrable documents

– compulsory & optional registration, time for presentation

of documents, presenting documents for registration, enforcing the appearance of the executants

and witnesses, presenting wills and authorities to adopt, deposit of wills, effects of registration

and non-registration, the duties and powers of Registering officers, refusal to register etc.

Sec. 30 regarding registration by Registrars in certain cases has been omitted and in West Bengal

section 30A and 30B have been inserted for registration by Registrar of Assurances, Kolkata in

respect of properties situated in any part of West Bengal and in any part of India in cases of deed

of mortgage and reconveyance deed executed by an employee of a Government, a statutory body

or a local authority.

27

Section 32A has been inserted by Act, 48 of 2001 (w.e.f.24.9.2001) for compulsory affixing

photographs and fingerprints to the documents.

2. The Indian Stamp Act, 1899

The Indian Stamp Act,1899 as amended by the Union Legislature is in force in the whole of India

except the State of Jammu & Kashmir. The revenue derived from stamp duties forms a

considerable part of the revenues of the states. Under the Constitution, the entire proceeds of the

duties are assigned to the States in which they are levied though for the sake of ensuring uniform

rates of duty on the instruments of commercial nature, the power to prescribe the rates of duties

on them is vested in the Union Legislature and the power to prescribe the rates of duties on other

instruments is vested in the State Legislature. In West Bengal various sections have been amended

and new sections as applicable to the State have been added. Amongst such amendments, the

amendment of section 47A for the purpose of determination of market value of properties which

are the subject matter of the instruments of gifts, partition, conveyances, exchange, settlement,

transfer of lease by way of assignment, agreement relating to sale of an immovable property and

in certain cases the power of attorney, is worthy to be mentioned.

There are several provisions in the Indian Stamp Act, 1899 as to :- Stamp duties, adjudications as

to stamps, instruments not duly stamped, allowances for stamps in certain cases, criminal offences

and procedures.

Schedule 1A, as amended in West Bengal, prescribes stamp duty on certain instruments and there

are, as many as, 65 articles for rates of proper stamp duties on such type of instruments.

The existing rate of stamp duty on some important articles of Schedule 1A of the Indian Stamp

Act are mentioned below:

Sl.

No.

No. & Name of Article Rate of Stamp Duty Rate of Regn. Fee

1. 4 Affidavit Rupees Ten (Rs.10/-)

2. 5 Agreement

(a) If relating to sale of

immovable property

(b) Others

The same as conveyance for market

value (No.23)

3. 15 Bond 4% of value secured

4. 23 Conveyance * 5% on market value in Panchayat

Area

6% on market value in Municipal

Areas, Corporation Areas and

Development Authority Areas

(Additional Stamp Duty of 2% for

KIT & HIT areas has been abolished

since 01.08.2006)

Up to Rs.250/- is Rs.2/-

Up to Rs.500/- is Rs.7/-

Up to Rs.1000/- is Rs.8/-

UP to Rs.5000/- is Rs.9/-

For Rs. 1000 or part

thereof in excess of

Rs.1000/-.

Above Rs.5000/- is

Rs.11/- for Rs.1000 or

part thereof in excess of

Rs.5000/-.

5. 31 Exchange of property Same duty as conveyance (No. 23)

on market value of the property of

greatest value

Same as above

6. 33 Gift

i) When made to a

member of a family

ii) When made to an

another person

0.5% of the market value of the

property

Same duty as conveyance (No.23) on

market value

Same as above

Same as above

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7. 35 Lease

(a)Only rent is fixed

i. less than one year

ii. 1-5 year

iii. 5-10 year

iv. Upto 20 year

v. Upto 30 year

vi. Upto 100 year

(b)Granted for fine or

premium

(c) Where the lease is

granted for file or

premium in addition

to rent

Sale as Bottomry Bond or Whole

amount payable under the document.

Same duty as a Bottomry Bond for

the average annual rent.

Same duty as conveyance for average

annual rent (Same as conveyance)

Twice the average annual rent (Same

as conveyance)

Three times the average annual rent

(same as conveyance)

Four times the average annual rent

(Same as No.23)

Same as conveyances for the fine or

premium

Same as (a) + (b)

Same as above

Same as above

Same as above

Same as above

Same as above

Same as above

Same as above

Same as above

8. 45 Partition 0.5% of the market value of the

separated share or shares of the

property

Same as above

9. 46 Partnership Capital

(a)Up to Rs.500/-

(b)Up to Rs.10000/-

(c)Up to Rs. 50000/-

(d)Exceeding Rs.50000/-

Rs. 20/-

Rs. 50/-

Rs. 100/-

Rs.150/-

Same as above

* Further with effect from 01.04.2007 stamp duty of additional 1% will be charged for properties

having Market Value over Rs. 25 lakhs

3. The West Bengal Registration Rules, 1962

The West Bengal Registration Rules, 1962 has come into force by the notification no.541-Regn.

dated 26

th April, 1963. There are nineteen chapters for the procedures to be adopted in the

registration offices for different purposes in connection with the registration of the documents. It

covers amongst different procedures

– the manner of maintenance of register books, papers and

documents in registration offices and their custody and also destruction of documents,

authentication of register-books, procedure prior to acceptances of documents for registration,

fines to be imposed, procedure on acceptance of documents for registration, procedure on the

admission of a document to registration, memorandum and copies of documents, special

provisions as to Power of Attorney, procedure with regard to wills, office procedures etc.

4. The West Bengal Stamp Rules, 1994

Government of West Bengal by notification no. 151 FT dt. 17.1.94 has made the said rules in

supersession of all previous rules and orders on the subject issued by the Government of Bengal.

Some of the important provisions of the said rules are :-

(a) Description of stamps

– impressed stamps and adhesive stamps

(b) Impressed Stamps

– Proper Officer, mode of affixing and impressing labels etc.

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(c) Use of adhesive stamps

– on certain instruments, court fee stamps in certain

cases, mode of cancelling

"share transfer" stamps, special adhesive stamps to

be used in certain cases etc.

(d) Refund or renewals

– Contents of application, register of application,

procedure after receipt of application, powers of the Collector to examine such

applications, procedures when stamp is purchased in different districts,

circumstances under which application may be struck off and the stamps

destroyed, cancellation of stamps after grant of refund etc.

5. The West Bengal (Prevention of Under-Valuation of Instruments) Rules, 2001

The West Bengal Stamp ( Prevention of Under-Valuation of Instruments) Rules, 1994 came into

force on 31

st January, 1994 regarding the manner of determination of market value and furnishing

the particulars relating to any property under notification no. 248-FT dated 31

st January, 1994. In

supersession of the said notification the West Bengal Stamp (Prevention of Under-Valuation of

Instruments) Rules, 2001 was made by notification no. 821 FT dt. 1.3.2001 in exercise of the

power conferred by clauses 16B of Sec.2, Sec. 27, Sec. 47A and Sec. 75 of the Indian Stamp

Act, 1899.

It states the manner of determination of market value by the registering officers when any person

presents an instrument of (i) agreement relating to sale of immovable properties (ii) conveyance

(iii) exchange of property (iv) gift (v) Partition (vi) Power Of Attorney in certain cases (vii)

Settlement (viii) transfer of lease by way of assignment for registration. The Registering Offices

shall issue notice to the person by whom stamp duty is payable under sec.29 of the Indian Stamp

Act, 1899 for the payment of deficit stamp duty and registration fees, if the market value

determined by the Registering Officer is higher than the consideration set forth in the instrument.

The person executing such instruments shall furnish the particulars of the properties in the Form I,

II, III & IV prescribed for such purpose and applicable to that document.

If any person does not offer to pay the deficit stamp duty, so determined by the R.O., the matter

may be referred to the Collector under sub-section (3) of sec,47A. This power of the Collector, is,

at present enjoyed by the Deputy Inspector General Of Registration of the concerned ranges . On

such references, the Collector shall determine the market value of the properties after giving the

person an opportunity of being heard.

If any person is aggrieved by an order passed by the Collector, he may prefer an appeal to the

Commissioner of the respective Division.

There is also provision for suo motu revision by the Chief Controlling Revenue Authority.

6. The West Bengal Registration (Filing of True Copies) Rules, 1979

The West Bengal Registration (Filing of True Copies) Rules, 1979 was published in the Calcutta

Gazette Extraordinary dated 1

st December, 1982 and subsequently amended and extended to the

whole of West Bengal.

Every document that is presented for registration shall be accompanied by a true copy thereof

prepared in the manner specified in the rules.

Except in the districts of Burdwan, Purba Medinipur, Paschim Medinipur, Malda, Uttar Dinajpur

and Dakshin Dinajpur such true copies are prepared by the licenced copywriters in a standard

form and in the manner as prescribed in these rules. In the above-noted six districts xerox copies

of the documents are presented along with the documents presented for registration.

7. The West Bengal Registration (Deed-Writers

’) Rules, 1999

In supersession of all previous notifications on the subject, the said rules have been made by

Inspector General of Registration , West Bengal under sec.80G of the Registration Act, 1908(XVI

30

of 1908) under notification no. 2335 dt. 4

th April, 2000. It has been provided that no person who is not a

licensed deed-writer under these rules shall engage himself in the profession of a Deed-Writer, provided

that an advocate or pleader practising before any court in the State or a solicitor, need not obtain a license

under these rules.

The said rules has further laid down the procedure for :- (a) persons eligible for licence (b) disqualification

for granting licence to a person (c) competent persons for writing different kinds of Instruments (d)

application for licence (e) Renewal of licence (f) conditions for renewals (g) Appeal for refusing renewal

of licence (h) conditions attached to Deedwriters

’ licenses (i) Issue of duplicate licence (j) Cancellation of

Deed-writers

’ licence (k) suspension of deed-writers’ licence – authority and procedures thereof (l)

jurisdiction etc.

Fees to be charged by licensed Deed-Writers have been laid down in rule 30 of the said rule as follows :-

Sl.

No.

Market value of the property Fees of licensed Deed-Writers

(a) Where the market value of the property does not

exceed Rs.5,000/-

Rs.50.00

(b) Where the market value of the property exceeds

Rs.5,000/- but does not exceed Rs.10,000/-

Rs.100.00

(c)Where the market value of the property exceeds

Rs.10,000/- but does not exceed Rs.15,000/-

Rs.150.00

(d ) Where the market value of the property exceeds

Rs.15,000/- but does not exceed Rs.25,000/-

Rs.250.00

(e)Where the market value of the property exceeds

Rs.25,000/- but does not exceed Rs.50,000

Rs.40.00

(f ) Where the market value of the property exceeds

Rs.50,000/- but does not exceed Rs.1,00,000/-

Rs.600.00

(g) Where the market value Where of the property exceeds

Rs.1,00,000/- but does not exceed Rs.2,00,000

Rs.1000.00

(h)Where the market value of the property exceeds

Rs.2,00,000/- but does not exceed Rs.5,00,000/-

Rs.1500.00

(i)Where the market value of the property exceeds

Rs.5,00,000/-

Rs.2000.00

1

Where, in the case of any instrument,

the market value is not stated,

Remuneration shall be Rs.30.00,

provided the number of words of the

document does not exceed six hundred. For

each additional one hundred words or part

thereof, Rs.4.00 may be charged

2

For taking delivery of documents when authorized

by the party under sec.52 of the Act

Rs.1.00 per document

3

For writing application-

(a) in the printed form

(b) in manuscript form

(c) for filling up each of the Forms I, II, III and IV

prescribed under rule 3(3) of the West Bengal (Prevention

of Under-Valuation of Instruments) Rules,1994 in

duplicate

Rs.1.00 for each form

Rs.2.00 for each form

Rs.5.00 for each form

4

For writing summons and filing the same Rs.2.00 per summons

5

For writing notices in the printed form under the West

Bengal Land Reforms Act, 1955 (West Bengal Act X of

1956)

Rs.1.00 for each notice

6

For making searches of index or inspection of volumes Rs.2.00 per year, subject to the maximum

of Rs.10.00 for each of the items of search

of indexes or inspection of volumes.

31

8. The West Bengal Registration (Copy-Writers

’) Rules, 1999

In exercise of power conferred under sec. 80GG of the Registration Act, 1908 (Act XVI of 1908)

and in supersession of all previous notifications on the subject, the Inspector General of

Registration, West Bengal has made the said rules.

The procedures for the persons eligible for licence, disqualification of copywriters

’, Renewal of

licences, conditions attached to copywriters

’ licenses, issue of duplicate licence, cancellation &

suspension of copywriters

’ licence etc. have been laid down in the said rules.

The rate of remuneration of a copy-writer shall be as follows :-

(i) for copying 100 words or part thereof - Rs.6.00 subject to a minimum of Rs.30.00

(ii) for preparing typed copy by licenced copywriters, the charge shall be same as in clause (i)

(iii)for comparing 100 words or part thereof each comparer shall get Rs.4.00 subject to a

minimum of Rs.20.00

Current policy of the Directorate:

a) Digitized market value : The process of determination of market value of properties which is

the subject matter of a deed presented before Registering Officer for registration is to some extent

subjective at present. In order to remove this subjectivity and bring in complete transparency, the

Directorate adopted the policy of digitization of market value for computerization of all the

registration offices of the State. Webel Technology Ltd. was engaged as a vendor for the job

throughout the State of West Bengal through a tender process. In this process the market value of

all plots in every mouja had been determined on the basis of the principles laid down in the West

Bengal (Prevention of Under-Valuation of Instruments) Rules, 2001. The past sale records for the

last five years in each office were also taken into consideration to form the basis of determination

of the market value of all the plots of a mouja. The natures of land of all plots in a mouja were

collected from the office of Block Land And Land Revenue Officer which were shortlisted

considering the nature of registrable lands .Again such registrable lands had been clubbed in

certain groups considering the similarity of market value for each group. A conversion ratio for

each office had been determined to convert the market value of one group of land to another

group of land in order to facilitate in determining the market value of the nature of the properties

in the particular jurisdiction of the registering officer concerned.. This whole exercise had been

completed for every registration office in West Bengal and a market value database had been

prepared for each office which had been linked with the CORD software.

The digitized market value will be periodically revised according to the field situation. The master

Data base of each office will be periodically reviewed and changes incorporated. True market

value rules in the computerized senario are in the final stage of processing.

b) Upgradation and Modernization of Infrastructure : Office space in the Directorate is not

sufficient for the accommodation of all the members of the staff. It is not congenial for controlling

the functions and management of the offices under its control all over the State from the existing

office.

Most of the registration offices in the State are functioning in rented buildings which are old,

dilapidated in many cases and unfit to cope with the upgradation and modernization of offices. As

such the Directorate has taken steps to shift such offices to better buildings available in the

locality. For this purpose we have classified the offices in three categories considering the volume

of works performed in such offices and looking for the space required for the offices according to

category. Since 2004-2005, it has been possible to shift a good number of offices to better

accommodation. After that the renovation, repairing, reconstruction of the following PWD

building cases have been sanctioned by the Govt.

2005

– 2006 - 7 cases

2006 - 2007 - 19 cases

2007

– 2008 - 33 cases

32

In the above cases the Government in the Finance Department sanctioned massive fund as shown

below for the purpose :

2005

– 2006 = Rs. 3.67 Crores

2006

– 2007 = Rs. 2.15 Crores

2007

– 2008 = Rs. 2.72 Crores

c) Use of franking machines : The use of franking machines for payment of stamp duty has been

introduced under Finance Deptt. no. 563-FT dt. 25.2.2002 for franking impression of different

kinds of stamps either by proper officers or by the Authorized Users. We have authorized

Centurion Bank,. Standard & Chartered Bank, Alliance Bajaj Ltd., among others. Till date 54

different financial institutions have been authorized to frank their documents.

d) Manner of payment of stamp duty : The Directorate has issued notification for the use of

Serialized Authenticated Bank Receipts introducing another mode of payment of stamp duty with

the help of SABR in lieu of non-judicial stamp paper valued above Rs.5000/-. The SABR will be

supplied by the State Bank of India

’s different branches to the registrant public.

.

e) Website : The Directorate has provided information for the members of the public regarding the

procedure for the registration of a document as per sections and articles of the Registration Act &

Indian Stamp Act in the website www.wbfin.nic.in.

E-Governance Initiative :

State Govt. started computerization of registration offices on 1

st January, 2001 and in the process

11(eleven) such offices, one at Bidhannagar, two in Kolkata, five at Alipore and three at Barasat

were computerized in a phased manner. Even in such computerized offices, the market value of

the properties is determined by registering authority manually.

In order to remove all such difficulties, to render better services to the registrant public and

preserve valuable records by scanning through computers, the State Govt. has undertaken to roll

out a programme with the aim of spreading the benefits of e-governance to citizens in all parts of

the State. For this purpose the offices of ADSR, Srirampur and Chandannagar, Janai, Singur and

Chinsurah Sadar in the district of Hooghly had been fully computerized under the pilot project

and the market value of the properties in those offices is now determined automatically through

the market value software. The Directorate has started to replicate the experience of the pilot

project to remaining 233 registration offices across the State. State-wide roll out of the project

involves enormous investment and massive volume of work. So the roll out projects are being

implemented in Public Private Partnership model. Accordingly M/s. WTL, M/s. CMS Computers

Ltd and M/s. CMC Ltd. had been selected as the private partners for Presidency, Burdwan and

Jalpaiguri zones respectively through the evaluation of Request For Proposal. Deptt. of

Information Technology, Govt. of India had also approved the project for roll-out in the whole of

West Bengal. Pricewaterhouse Coopers was engaged as the consultant of this project temporarily.

Time line for implementation of different phases of the computerization programme had been

drawn up for the year 2007-08. Since 9

th February, 2007, the launching of the 1st project in

Gazole in Malda District under P.P.P. Model the Registration Directorate has come a long way

through tiding over numerous difficulties and uncountable number of hazards, pushing inch by

inch ahead to register progress as indicated below :-

Year No. of offices commissioned in PPP

2006

– 2007 7 offices

2007

– 2008 151 offices

33

Constant attempt is being made involving all the stake holders e.g. different Departments of the

Government, members of public, registration Department officials- employees, deed writers, copy

writers and people

’s representatives to cover all the remaining offices by the end of the calendar

year 2008.

Revenue Targets and Achievements :

YEAR WISE TARGET OF REVENUE COLLECTION AND ACHIEVEMENT

Year

Estimated

Collection

(Rs. in Crore)

Actual

Collection

(Rs. in Crore)

Growth rate

(in %)

Achievement

( in % )

2002

– 2003 700 683.38 45.66 97.62

2003

– 2004 800 766.90 12.22 95.86

2004

– 2005 867 964.28 25.74 111.21

2005

– 2006 1055 1087.02 12.73 103.03

2006

– 2007 1405 1168.54 7.49 83.13

2007

– 2008 1500 1352.21 15.72 90.14