PESHAWAR, Dec 21: The Peshawar Property Dealers Association has expressed concern over what they called “illegal amendments” made to the Registration Act and alleged that the same had been done in order to benefit the revenue officials.

Addressing a press conference at the Peshawar Press Club, Ahsanullah, president of the association, said that the amendments had increased the problems of the property dealers as well as the people.

He claimed that the national exchequer was also suffering losses in millions because the registration of land had been stopped.

“The revenue officials have fixed mutation fee of land at four and a half per cent and the registration fee has been increased to six and a half per cent in order to entice the people to get their land registered instead of transferring it, and the officials receive graft from them,” he said.

At the time of registration of land, the revenue officials force the people to show double the amount at which they had actually purchased the land, he said.

Due to minimum rate of Khasra number in the rate list, he said, the revenue officials were able to transfer the land upon paying a minimum fee, “which has been causing losses to the tune of millions of rupees to the national kitty.”

According to a notification issued in July last, the registration fee of Rs200 per Rs100,000 had been raised to Rs1,500.