GUJRANWALA, Dec 1: The sudden collapse of the transfer of property work has caused huge losses to the treasury of eight registrar offices in the district.

The situation happened after registry branches, on the orders of the district administration, abolished the schedule rate of transfer of property and started recovering its fee and other taxes in accordance with the market value of property.

According to a report, the property owners had been paying two per cent stamp duty fee besides other taxes according to the schedule rate during the process of registry of properties for the last several years.

But the DCO barred all registrars in the district from dealing with the transfer of property cases according to the schedule rate and instead ordered them to recover the transfer of property fee and other taxes in accordance with the market value about a week back.

The decision of the DCO forced property owners and traders to avoid getting the property transferred that caused a dent deep in the treasury. The stamp vendors association also termed the DCO order illegal and demanded that the decision should be withdrawn immediately.

When contacted, district officer (revenue) Syed Sibtul Hassan Shah said that new schedule was being prepared with the consultation of the Gujranwala chamber, the district and tax bar association and the stamp vendors association.

ROUGHED UP: An anti-encroachment squad, including the land manager of Qila Didar Singh Town, was roughed up and injured by shopkeepers at Khiali Shahpur bazaar on Monday.

Reports said that members of the squad, led by land manager Haroon Butt, were bulldozing the illegal projections of shops when the enraged shopkeepers injured them with clubs and sticks.

On receiving information, tehsil municipal officer Shahid Ismail and technical officer Muzaffar Hussain reached the spot and took the injured to hospital.

More than a dozen shopkeepers were arrested and cases were registered against them.