District administration has yet to notify revised official property valuation rates
RAWALPINDI:
Property transactions across Rawalpindi district have remained completely suspended for nearly three weeks as the district administration has yet to notify revised official property valuation rates (DC rates) for the new financial year, despite 20 days having elapsed since its commencement.
The delay has effectively brought the district’s property market to a standstill, with not a single property registration completed since June 25, according to stakeholders.
Property dealers said, under normal circumstances, around 200 sale deeds are registered daily across the district. However, the continued absence of the revised DC valuation list has halted all buying and selling activity, leaving investors, buyers and sellers in limbo.
The suspension has also affected the sale of stamp papers, with no property-related stamp paper reportedly sold between June 25 and July 19. Work at the district’s two registrar officesUrban and Ruralas well as the offices of tehsildars and deputy tehsildars in all seven tehsils has virtually come to a halt.
Officials said the issuance of Green Property Certificates, a mandatory requirement for property transactions, has also been delayed because the revised official valuation rates have not yet been notified.
The situation has particularly affected overseas Pakistanis who travelled to the country specifically to buy or sell property but have been unable to complete their transactions due to the administrative delay.
The delay has also disrupted government revenue collection. The Excise, Taxation and Narcotics Control Department has been unable to prepare property tax bills for the new financial year, as the revised DC rates are required before updated tax assessments can be issued. Patron-in-Chief of the Stamp Vendors Union, Waheed Awan, urged the district administration to notify the revised property valuation rates without further delay so that property transactions could resume.
