Introduction

 The Registration & Stamps Department is the second highest revenue generating department for the Government of Maharashtra with a revenue target of Rs.2675 crores for 100%2-100%3 against which Department had collected Rs.2871.71 crores.  Thus the Department contributes nearly 15 % of the states' tax revenues. It is a very lean organisation working very efficiently, as seen by the fact that it spends only about 1.5% of what it earns on itself.

(Revenue collection against Target)

Source: Govt. of Maharashtra

The department is small in size, having limited staff of 2522 employees over four hundred and ten offices across the State. The cutting edge level is very lean with each Sub- Registrar Office being manned with one Sub-Registrar, one clerk & one peon only. 

Organisation Structure

Fig:2

Staff Statistics

Fig:3

 The Primary Functions of the Department are : 

•    Registration of deeds

•    Revenue Collection

•    Valuation of properties

•    Preservation of documents.

•    Search for transactions.

Fig:4

These functions are performed through 14 processes viz :-

1          Registration

2          Archival  & Retrieval

3          Marriage Registration

4          Assessment of stamp duty on instruments.

5          Indenting of stamps & sale of stamps / franking machine

6          Refund

7          ASR preparation

8          Appeals.

9.         CRM including

•   Grievance Redressal

•   Customer Communications

•    Corrective & Preventive Measures.

10.       Resource Management including

•   Purchases

•   Budgeting

•   House keeping and maintenance

•   Payments

•   Accounts

•   Reconciliation

11.       Human Resources including

•  Establishment

• raining

• Incentive Schemes

•  Promotions

12        Management Processes including

•  Target setting & Review

•   Amendments to Stamp Act & Registration Act

13        Administration Processes including

•    Inward / Outward

•   Record Management.

14        Audit and Inspection including ISO Audit.

 The Acts administered by the department-

•      The Indian Registration Act

•     The Bombay Stamp Act

•     The Bombay Marriage Act

•     The special Marriage Act

Over the years the department has a large number of clientele with nearly 7-8 million persons visiting the Department's offices annually, mainly to register about 1.5 million documents.  However, the department had a poor image due to very poor client satisfaction.  One of the reasons for this was the enormous discretion enjoyed by the Sub-Registrar vis-a-vis registering the document, ascertaining value of the property and the time frame of returning the original document to the party. The other major reasons were: 

•         Dark, dingy offices

•         Procedures & standards not  uniform

•         Information not easily available

•         Lack of transparency in valuation

•         Discretion to keep documents pending for registration

•         Original document not returned within a reasonable time

•         Manual system of copying/endorsing – time & energy intensive

•         Document preservation – space, deterioration & retrieval costs

•         Back office work – substantial & laborious – error prone

The first step in the direction of change management process was to identify the problems and constraints. The major problems identified after a lot of intra-departmental dialogue, and user interactions were:

•    Space - appearance

•    Discretion to SR          

                a)   Completing process of Registration

        b)    Valuation

        c)     Returning the document

•   Evasion of Government dues- because of geographical boundary based

         Ready reckoner and the discretion provided to the Sub Registrar to  

         decide valuation and the applicable stamp duty.

•    Lack of uniform procedure

•    Lack of time standards.

•    Laborious back office work.

•    Document preservation problem.

•    Lack of transparency & service norms.

•    Lack of accessibility

•    Lack of information to user.

As a result, the registration of land or property transaction took weeks and the original document could not be returned for years. For example, a review taken in July 100%0 revealed that more than 1 million documents were pending for registration for various reasons, some for more than 5 years and more than 15 million registered documents had not been returned to the parties from 1985 onward.

Given that the age old system was not working well, a major move towards using ITenabled service was utilized. The major objective of the change (computerization) process is to :

•    Develop a simple, speedy & reliable registration process

•    Build consistency & uniformity in the process

•    Provide transparency in the valuation of the properties

•    Automate all the back office functions

•    Remove discretions at the cutting edge level by automation on

® scrutiny        

® valuation      

® checking for support certificates

•   Provide systems to cut down evasion thereby leading to revenue       growth.

•   An easy, reliable & cost effective archival system and effective

•             search.                                                           

•   Facility for search of the previous 12 year transactions

•   Set quality & time standards & to have a system of evaluation of offices /officers on the basis of these standards 

•   Provide backward & forward linkages with the land records & revenue department.

•   Provide information to users freely, easily.

By initiating such a measure, the aim of computerization was to bring in transparency and accountability by :

• Simplifying and demystifying the complicated process of registration.
• Defining a “Complete” document, which can be registered as per law.
• Accepting only complete documents.
• Returning incomplete documents immediately giving reasons in writing.
•  Deciding time limits for every activity :- the time norm for returning a document after registration and back office work fixed at 24 hrs.
• Remove all backlog.
• Introducing input forms.
• Introducing city-survey number-wise Ready Recknors, for a quick 

and transparent system of property valuation.

• Introducing computer aided registration process with a comprehensive

software which enabled.

•             Auto valuation

•             Auto scrutiny

•             Auto check on support certificates

• Immediate Scan-archival.
• Technological inputs to bring down the time required for registration

to about 30 minutes (for a document with 2-4 parties and about

  30 pages)

The entire process of computerization was developed by a by C-DAC.software in 6 modules -

1.         Registration module-

•       Registration process    

•       Generation of receipt

•       Generation of summary slip

•       Generation of reports

2.         Valuation module-

•      Calculates market value

•      Generates valuation slip.

3.      Scan & Archival module-

•       Scanning of registered documents

•       Archiving of scanned document on CDs

•       Retrieval of archived documents.

4.     Networking module-

                                         Dial up network                                                           

5.    Website- 

•   Online valuation       

•    Members’ area

6.         Search -

•        Search of Index-II for past 12 years

•        Time required has been reduced from 2 weeks to 2 minutes.

7.   Vendor Management System

• Invoice generation for BOT vendors

•  Penalty generation

In the traditional route Government of Maharashtra would have to do:

•  the hardware procurement

•  the deployment

•  the maintenanc

•  the ground work to keep the system operational & functional.

which encountered a number of problems such as Capital Cost: approximately Rs.20 crores to the Government, Maintenance problem: Lack of technically equipped staff within the set up, Up-gradation problem: It would have been difficult to keep pace with the fast changing technology, Attention diverted from core competency, Inadequate supply of consumables, intra departmental resistance to the changes would lead to frequent breakdowns and ultimate collapse of the system. 

In a new set up which involves the BOT model - Private partner to install, operate, maintain  Hardware and to recover money through service fees charges for better quality  public services and the role gets redefined. 

The Private player than has to Provide, install & commission all the Hardware and peripherals required to meet the desired service standards, Furniture as per standard design and layout, order for Consumables as per requirement, Keep the set up at all locations functional, Install all requisite software at various locations necessary, data entry and Scanning the Original Registered Documents.

The advantage of such a system is

• No Capital Cost to Government
• No Maintenance hassle.
• 100% uptime ensured.
• Staff devoted to core area.
• Consumable requirement met effectively.
• In built financial incentive to vendor since payment is on per page basis.
• In built financial disincentive by auto penalty if more than stipulated time is taken.

The computerized system was initiated from 1.2.100%2 onwards in all the Sub-Registrar offices in the state. The new initiative was underlining the political commitment and the larger issue of "feel good”  factor in the Department.

BENEFITS

1.      Image of the SRO enhanced across the state.

2.      Perceived divide across SROs nullified.

3.      No co existence of manual & computerised system.

4.      No fall-back available thus forcing better sustainability.

In addition to the above the other advantages of the model are as follows:

Replicability:  The model, initially tried out in one pilot office, was successfully replicated within the department.  All 359 Sub Registrar offices could get computerised within 15 days. 

The model is replicable across departments. Similar model with adequate customization is planned to be implemented in the State Excise department, Sales Tax Department, Social Welfare Department, Rural development department, etc. in Maharashtra. 

The model is replicable across States.  R&SD, Maharashtra has worked closely with C-DAC for the implementation of the model with customisation of software in the Registration Department in Karnataka. The entire process from start to roll on has been completed in less than 1 year; Rajasthan has also initiated their computerization in the Registration Department on the lines of the Maharashtra pattern.  

The Department of IT, Government of India has commissioned a project for replication of this model in 6 other States in the country. These states are Kerala, West Bengal, Punjab, Goa, Himachal Pradesh and Uttaranchal.

 What are the benefits to various stakeholders?

                    Citizens

•    Quick and transparent process with a turnaround time of around 30 minutes and ZERO PENDENCY.

•    Web based valuation facilitates valuation from home. 

•     Downloadable forms on web will reduce the number of visits to Sub-registrar’s office.

•     Original documents returned to parties within stipulated time.

•     Transparency and Accountability.

•     Role of middlemen & touts reduced

•     Fast and efficient copying process.

Public satisfaction over the transparency and speed are demonstrated through feedback forms, in different symposia etc. The system is generating a good public response all over the State.

For the Department

•      Mundane chores of writing reports completely eliminated. 

•      Registration and valuation is quick & accurate 

•      Quick image access makes retrieval of data fast and easy. 

•      Concept of “Less Paper” office implemented

•      Greater control on administrative staff

•      Instills sense of Responsibility.

•      Tremendous boost to the image of the department.

And the Government

    Central database made available

     Re- creating Ready Reckoners with proper feedback will benefit Town   Planning    Dept.

  Computerization of related departments will be facilitated.

   Remarkable increase in revenue due to computerized valuation.

     The plugging of valuation related loopholes has greatly enhanced the revenue.  The department is able to achieve much more than its target ; with collections being more than 20% above last years same period collection.

BENEFITS

1.      Image of the SRO enhanced across the state.

2.      Perceived divide across SROs nullified.

3.      No co existence of manual & computerised system.

4.      No fall-back available thus forcing better sustainability.

In addition to the above the other advantages of the model are as follows:

Replicability:  The model, initially tried out in one pilot office, was successfully replicated within the department.  All 359 Sub Registrar offices could get computerised within 15 days.

The model is replicable across departments. Similar model with adequate customization is planned to be implemented in the State Excise department, Sales Tax Department, Social Welfare Department, Rural development department, etc. in Maharashtra.

The model is replicable across States.  R&SD, Maharashtra has worked closely with C-DAC for the implementation of the model with customisation of software in the Registration Department in Karnataka. The entire process from start to roll on has been completed in less than 1 year; Rajasthan has also initiated their computerization in the Registration Department on the lines of the Maharashtra pattern.

The Department of IT, Government of India has commissioned a project for replication of this model in 6 other States in the country. These states are Kerala, West Bengal, Punjab, Goa, Himachal Pradesh and Uttaranchal.

 What are the benefits to various stakeholders?

                           Citizens

•       Quick and transparent process with a turnaround time of around 30 minutes and ZERO PENDENCY. 

•       Web based valuation facilitates valuation from home.

•       Downloadable forms on web will reduce the number of visits to Sub-registrar’s office.

•       Original documents returned to parties within stipulated time.

•       Transparency and Accountability.

•       Role of middlemen & touts reduced

•       Fast and efficient copying process.

Public satisfaction over the transparency and speed are demonstrated through feedback forms, in different symposia etc. The system is generating a good public response all over the State.

For the Department

•    Mundane chores of writing reports completely eliminated

•    Registration and valuation is quick & accurate

•    Quick image access makes retrieval of data fast and easy.

•    Concept of “Less Paper” office implemente

•    Greater control on administrative staff

•    Instills sense of Responsibility.

•    Tremendous boost to the image of the department.

And the Government

•      Central database made available

•      Re- creating Ready Reckoners with proper feedback will benefit Town   Planning Dept.

•     Computerization of related departments will be facilitated.

•     Remarkable increase in revenue due to computerized valuation.

•     The plugging of valuation related loopholes has greatly enhanced the revenue. The department is able to achieve much more than its target ; with collections being more than 20% above last years same period collection.

                    Benefits of E-registration of Stamps