The Haryana government will implement, from August 1 revised collector rates for property registration—with hikes ranging from 10 percent to 50 percent—in both urban and rural areas, in a move that will push up the property rates, with dealers apprehending that it may stall the real estate market. This will be the second hike in collector rates in Haryana in eight months.

The collector rates were last revised with effect from December 1, 2024. The rates are normally revised with effect from April 1 each year, but the 2024 adjustment was delayed due to the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections.

A senior official privy to the developments said that in urban areas of districts such as Gurgaon, Panchkula, and Faridabad, the collector rates are low. “The government wants to bring the collector rates and the market rates on par to stop the real estate transactions through black money.” However, the collector rates can’t be hiked so much in one go as this may upset the buyers. So, a slab-wise hike—10%, 20%, 30%, 40%, and 50%—in rates has been proposed. The hike has been proposed keeping in view the market rate of properties in the different areas of the cities and towns concerned.

The draft collector rate notification for Gurgaon proposes a hike in circle rates for Sector 42, the neighborhood that houses the tony DLF Camelias and the Golf Club, among others. For residential properties there, the proposed rate is Rs 79,970 per square yard, up from the existing Rs 72,700 per square yard — a rise of 10%. Commercial and retail spaces are proposed at Rs 15,500 per square foot, a significant increase from the existing rate of Rs 14,400 per square foot. Office and IT spaces are proposed at Rs 11,000 per square foot — a marginal increase over the current rate of Rs 10,080.

Other areas in the city limits will see varying rates of hike ranging from 5% to about 40% (and higher for newly developing sectors that are urbanising). For example, the residential properties rate for Rajeev Nagar (Sector 13) is being hiked from Rs 25,300 per square foot to Rs 35,000 per square foot.

The circle/collector rate is the minimum price set by the government for sale of real estate, and is legally binding. However, the market rate can fluctuate. Registration fee and stamp duty to be paid while buying a property will be based on the circle rate. The draft document states that residential group housing for Gurgaon will be valued at four times the agriculture collector rate, and commercial CLU rates will be five times the agricultural rate. Additional charges apply to plots facing parks and those with multiple open sides.

The Panchkula Property Dealers Welfare Association termed the hike “sudden and excessive”. Its chairman, Sunil Sahni, said, “For the prime locations of Panchkula’s sectors 6, 7, 8, the hike has been proposed up to 50%.” For prime plots, it has been proposed from existing Rs 72,000 per square metre to Rs 1.08 lakh per square metre. “With such a hike, the property buyers would have a rethink because they will need to arrange a substantial amount as additional charge for registration.”

In sectors 2, 4, 15, 16, 17, and 18 in Panchkula, a 50% hike in collector rates for residential property registration has been proposed. The rates in these sectors are slated to rise from Rs 46,800 to Rs 70,200 per square metre.

In the Mansa Devi Complex—specifically Sectors 4, 5, and 6—the proposal suggests increasing the current rate of Rs 66,000 per square metre to Rs 99,000 per square metre.

“This hike is sudden and is being introduced in almost mid of the financial year. The buyers and sellers are not prepared for this hike. Not only this, very less time has been given to file the objections over the proposed hike in collector rates. The proposed rates have been uploaded on the government website on Wednesday while the rates are proposed to be affected from Friday itself,” said Sahni.

These changes will affect stamp duty and registration charges, as both are linked to the notified collector rates. The proposals are pending public feedback, which can be given till 1pm on Thursday.

The revised rates were scheduled to come into effect from April 1, at the start of the financial year 2025-26. The government, however, had to put it on hold following protests especially as it came only five months after the last revision.

Now, the Department of Revenue and Disaster Management on July 23 sent out letters to the officials in all districts stating that the new collector rates for immovable property registrations — Sections 17 and 18 of the Registration Act, 1908 — should be enforced at the earliest. A senior official in the department said that the state earned Rs 12,300 crore in revenue in the 2023–24 fiscal. The amount jumped to approximately Rs 14,200 crore in 2024–25, following the rate hike effected in December. With the fresh revision, they project an additional revenue generation of Rs 2,000 crore.

Property dealers, however, argued that the hike would adversely impact buyers’ purchasing power. While they believe that the property prices won’t go up, higher collector rates will increase the investment required to buy new property.

Mohit Gawri, vice-president (sales), RISE Infraventures Ltd, said that aligning circle rates with market values is necessary for long-term transparency, but the hike proposed in Gurgaon may be a bit aggressive, given where property prices already stand. “Many micro-markets are at or near peak pricing, and such a sudden revision could add pressure on end-users and lead to slow transaction volumes,” said Gawri.

Ankit Kansal, managing director, 360 Realtors, said that while revising the rates in December 2024, the government had put a cap on any further increase in rates. “The decision to increase the rates might be not be a prudent and judicious decision. It can result in further increase in market rates. Already property prices are soaring in Gurgaon. Many parts of Gurgaon have become out of the pocket for average mid income buyers. Average 2 BHK in Gurgaon starts at Rs 2-3 crore and any further hike in the circle rates will result into a further spiralling of prices,” he added.

According to Sahni, their association has sent a memorandum to the Panchkula Deputy Commissioner, urging that the hike be limited to 10 to 20% instead of the proposed 50%. General secretary Abhay Jain appealed to the Deputy Commissioner to allow a reasonable grace period before implementing the revised rates, so that property transactions already in progress can be completed without undue financial strain.

Panchkula Deputy Commissioner Monika Gupta told The Indian Express “A meeting has been fixed on Friday to decide on the objections and finalize the circle rates.”

In a letter to Deputy Commissioners and Divisional Commissioners Tuesday, Haryana Additional Chief Secretary (Revenue) Sumita Misra stated, “…complaints/objections etc. on the draft of collector/circle rates received from public may be decided by July 31, 2025 and the revised collector/circle rates may be enforced from August 1, 2025.”

She further noted, “…the collector/circle rates for the financial year 2024–25 could not be fixed in time and resultantly could be implemented from December 1, 2024 only. The same are in continuation till now, since the new collector rates again could not be finalised by March 2025. Be that as it may, the revised collector rates/circle rates may be enforced at the earliest preferably from August 1, 2025 as it captures only a fraction of the increased transaction value.”

Congress MP Deepender Singh Hooda, meanwhile, demanded immediate withdrawal of the proposed hike. “The sudden increase in property valuation will create instability in the market, which may discourage potential investors and prompt them to turn to other locations,” he said.