In a major step aimed at curbing stamp duty evasion during land sales, 'fair prices' for lands fixed by the government was expected to come into force in Kerala from July. The work on preparation of the draft fair prices for land in each locality was progressing and the same would be published for public scrutiny on May 5, Minister for Registration S Sharma told reporters here yesterday.

Two months would be given for the public to give their views and the final notification would be issued by July, Sharma said.

Subsequently, the stamp duty also would come down, he added.
It would also put an end to the practice of showing 'lower price' for land during registration, he said.

In another important reform in property transactions, registration of the sale agreement deed would be made compulsory. Necessary amendments would be brought to the Registration Act, he said.

The government earned total revenue of Rs.1872.89 crores through property registration during the last financial year, he said.

On complaints that large scale land transactions were going on using forged land documents, Sharma said reports in this regard were exaggerated.

Out of the 25,87,285 registrations that took place during the last two years, only 81 were found to be made with forged documents. Investigations into these cases were also on, he said