Panaji: At least 30 property buyers in Goa found themselves trapped in frustrating limbo due to a critical failure in the State Bank of India’s payment gateway used for online stamp duty payments. The technical glitch left at least Rs 1 crore debited from their accounts but undeposited with govt treasury.In one case, a buyer who transferred Rs 65 lakh for stamp duty watched helplessly as the transaction showed “failed” on the treasury system despite money vanishing from his account, with bank officials casually advising him to repeat the payment, an impossibility for most citizens who do not have such large sums available twice over.While SBI employees confirmed the technical glitch and promised refunds within seven days, property transactions remained paralysed, with buyers unable to complete registrations, at risk of missing other prior commitments, and potentially facing penalties through no fault of their own.“Unnecessary mess created in the name of digitalisation. First, the online system of uploading drafts, taking approvals, and then again signing and uploading the draft causes multiple issues and delays. It is unnecessary harassment. And now, to top all that, this e-stamping system has created further issues; like for any sale deed or agreements where if the stamp duty is above Rs 10 lakh, one needs to go physically to the treasury department and get a challan generated, then go online to the portal, select a payment gateway, and then pay the amount,” said Amit Chopra, president of the National Association of Realtors.SBI officials said that the glitch was first noticed on Jan 29, prompting multiple frantic calls from property buyers. The glitch resurfaced on Tuesday, with some more transactions failing to go through.“When a system whose purpose is to increase transparency and ease turns into the opposite, it is time to change the system. My money got refunded to my account and now again when we made the transfer, it got stuck. My deed is stuck because of this,” said Chopra.State registrar-cum-head of notary services, Aisha Vaingankar, acknowledged the technical challenges and said that the department would look into the issue.
