Maharashtra Government pockets INR 82 crore as stump duty from the Star India-BCCI IPL deal

The Maharashtra government has earned a handsome sum of nearly Rs 82 crore as stamp duty from the five years media rights deal between Star India and BCCI. The claim has been made by Department of Stamps and Registration official. Star India recently earned the TV broadcasting and digital rights of the Indian Premier League.

The deal is worth Rs 16,347 crores for a period of five years. Sony broadcasted the first 10 editions of the IPL successfully. Clearly, the brand has grown over a period of time and this particular deal speaks volume of the franchise game dominating the sports market.

Speedy recovery of the amount

“After coming to know from print and TV media about the contract, we took up the matter with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), with whom Star India signed the contract,” a top official of the Department of Stamps and Registration said. “The positive approach of Vinod Rai, head of the Supreme Court-appointed Committee of Administrators of BCCI, helped in the speedy recovery of the amount,” the official told PTI on condition of anonymity

We informed the BCCI that the agreement of global media rights is chargeable under sections 5(h)(A)(ii) of the Maharashtra Stamp Act. We also pointed out that under Section 34 of the Act, the instrument (agreement) is inadmissible in evidence if not duly stamped,” the official said.

According to the officials, a deal like the one between the BCCI-Star India, attracts a stamp duty of 0.5 per cent of the total value. “The Stamp Collector’s Office in Mumbai asked Star India to submit the agreement copy for payment of stamp duty,” he said. ”As per the Act, the contract agreement covering exclusive rights of telecasting, broadcasting or exhibition of an event or a film attracts stamp duty of 0.5 per cent of the amount agreed to in the contract, if the amount in the agreement exceeds 10 lakh.” official said.