The Maharashtra government collected almost Rs 82 crore as stamp duty from Star India for a five-year media rights agreement between Star India and Board of Cricket Control of India (BCCI), a Department of Stamps and Registration official said.
Reportedly, Star India recently won the broadcasting and media rights for the franchise based tournament Indian Premier League (IPL) for Rs 16,347 crore in a five-year deal beating Sony in an auction that had the rights for the first ten editions of the tournament.
An official from the Stamp and Registration department said, “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.”
“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 was heard saying to PTI.
The official also further mentioned that the agreement like the one between Star India and BCCI levies a stamp duty of 0.5 percent of the whole amount.
“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 further added.
Therefore, Star India paid a sum of Rs 81,73,75,500 last week as stamp duty to the Maharashtra government. The authorities this year has decided to be proactive to garner their earnings from stamp duty.
Earlier, Oppo Electronics Corporation also paid an amount of Rs 5.39 crore for the agreement between the company and the BCCI team sponsorship deal for the next five years with the help of Vinod Rai, former Comptroller and Auditor General of India.
