Noida residents slam circle rate hike plan, say will have to pay more in pandemic

NOIDA: Residents of both Noida and Greater Noida are up in arms against the proposed hike in circle rates in the twin cities. On Wednesday, the Noida Federation of Apartment Owners Associations forwarded their representation to the district administration. Residents of Greater Noida are also expected to share their reservations against the move on Thursday.

On August 2, the Gautam Budh Nagar district administration announced its decision to hike circle rates in Noida, Greater Noida and the Yamuna Expressway region by at least 5%, for the first time in four years. The decision will definitely dent the pockets of the families looking to buy a real estate in the district as the UP government charges 7% of the property value as stamp duty.

President of the federation in Noida, Rajiva Singh said, “Circle rates need to represent market sentiments. Given the condition of the real estate sector in Noida, circle rates need to be brought down from the current levels at this juncture. Also more than 40,000 buyers are waiting to get their flat registered even after making payments to the developers. They will all have to pay higher stamp duty if the rates are increased.”

President of the Federation of RWAs in Greater Noida, Devendra Tiger said, “We are going to lodge our protest and objections against the proposed hike in the circle rates. Flats launched by the Greater Noida Authority have not been able to find takers but they keep increasing the rates. Due to the pandemic, both the working class and businessmen have suffered but still the administration expects them to pay more.”

However, additional district magistrate (finance) Vandita Srivastava said, “We have proposed the new rates on the basis of the feedback collected from various localities. Objections of the residents will be evaluated before any decision is taken. They have time up to August 16. Only after deliberations and discussions with all the stakeholders, we will take a final call on the matter.”