Buying a property in the capital has become costlier as the Sheila Dikshit government has decided to hike the property registration fee from a flat Rs 100 to one percent of the price. For a Rs 50 lakh flat, this would mean shelling out Rs 50,000 – a 5,000 percent hike!
 
The government says that this rate was not revised since 1964, but that in itself is no justification to hike it now, a few weeks after it slapped massive taxes through the budget. The government, facing a fund crunch, wanted to raise Rs 1,130 through tax hikes in the budget, but was forced to roll back taxes on several items like cooking gas cylinders and CNG, which took its collection estimates down by Rs 200 crore and hence this property registration fee hike.

And all these hikes have come at a time when food prices have gone up and metro/bus fares have gone up. Yet, earlier this month, Dikshit said Delhiites can afford a hike in electricity charges.

The government is short of funds due to inefficiencies for which the average citizen is being punished. Meanwhile, nobody mentions fund crunch when the Commonwealth Games budget keeps increasing. Only the opening and closing ceremonies are going to cost Rs 200 crore – precisely the amount of shortfall mentioned above.