Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal Monday launched an ‘easy registration’ system to facilitate hassle-free and transparent property registration.
“This is a revolutionary step as people will not have to run from office to office, won’t have to deal with agents or middlemen as everything from start to finish will be available on phone and will be fast, clear and transparent,” Mann said.
After launching it, both the leaders said citizens can now register at any sub-registrar office in the district, not just where the property is located. Mann said accountability of the officers has been fixed and a proper mechanism of checks and balances has been introduced. This will prevent corruption and if someone causes an unfair delay in property registration, strict action will be taken, Mann said. The network of corruption in the ‘tehsils’ was deep-rooted and complex but this action is a step forward towards eliminating it, he added.
What is this easy registration system and how will it work?
Easy Registration
The new system is aimed at making registration simple, fast, transparent and fair using digital tools to reduce delays and check corruption in Sub Registrar offices and harassment of people. Earlier, citizens were forced to register deeds only at the SRO in-charge of the location of the property. Now, they will be able to get it registered in any SRO of the district. They had to hire the deed writers to write the sale deed, pay through the bank and go through the process of manual checks. Now, the property owners can directly draft their deed online or by paying affordable fees (Rs 500) through Sewa Kendras opened at all SROs or doorstep delivery of services by calling 1076. And, the complete online document submission and assessment on whether the registration could be done will be completed within 48 hours.
Keeping check on Tehsildars/Sub Registrars
The Sub Registrar offices in Punjab are often dubbed as dens of corruption with ‟a cut” on registration of property being a well known fact. Those, who refuse to pay this cut, often face objections by the Tehisldars and the process is delayed. With the new system in place now, the Tehsildars would not be able to make any frivolous objections on registration. The objections will have to be raised online and only once within 48 hour long online window. The objection would automatically be intimated to District Collectors (DCs) through the app, who can check if they are genuine. The Real-time WhatsApp updates to citizens would be sent at every stage of the process.
How will it check corruption?
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If a property owner is asked for bribe, he would be able to report it directly on WhatsApp itself and the DC will ensure that the deed gets registered smoothly. The property owners will be sent the details of amount of collector’s duty and other fee on the WhatsApp. If the property owner would feel that he was being asked for a bribe, he could report directly on the WhatsApp. The message thus sent would reflect directly on DCs’ software. The department of revenue has run a trial of the entire system in the past one month when the system was being developed.
Payment
The system would save the residents of separate bank visits for payments. Earlier, they had to get stamp papers from Sewa Kendras, and repeatedly visit the banks for paying collector’s duty and other formalities. All these visits could now be a thing of the past. Now, single, consolidated online payment gateway is being offered covering all fees, removing the need for bank trips. Citizens are now notified via WhatsApp when documents are ready and make only one visit for signing and document collection.
Scope to be extended
The system will be available in all districts of Punjab in a month and half. The department of revenue and rehabilitation is working on extending it to all districts. The Revenue Department is working to similarly reform all other citizen services so that they can be made available conveniently to the citizens either through Sewa Kendras or by calling 1076 or directly through Whatsapp. The larger vision is to eliminate the need to visit government offices and offer seamless, corruption-free experience to citizens for any service.
