******************************************
The Land Registry would continue to improve the quality of its service to customers and engage stakeholders on the best way forward for the introduction of title registration, the Land Registrar, Ms Olivia Nip, said today (October 20).
Speaking on the publication of the report of the Land Registry Trading Fund 2009/10, Ms Nip said: "We maintained our momentum in introducing new initiatives to improve the quality and efficiency of our service, in line with our customer-oriented culture."
The Land Registry released an enhanced version of the e-memorial form in July 2009. Since its introduction, the usage rate of the e-memorial form has increased by about 50%, which accounted for about 45% of the documents delivered for registration.
In October 2009, the Land Registry reduced the application fee and minimum deposit for subscriber accounts for the Integrated Registration Information System (IRIS) Online Services, resulting in an increase of about 9% in the number of subscribers by the end of March 2010.
"Another major challenge for the department is the development of a title registration system," Ms Nip said.
"Recently, divergent views have been advanced by stakeholders on the potential implications of the mandatory rectification rule and indemnity arrangement under the Land Titles Ordinance on the purpose of the legislation and its future implementation. We will continue to dedicate our best efforts in engaging stakeholders with a view to identifying common grounds for taking forward the legislation," she said.
For the financial year ended March 31, 2010, the Land Registry Trading Fund achieved an increase of 60.1% in profit and total comprehensive income of $149.7 million. The rate of return on fixed assets was about 38.5%. The Trading Fund will pay a dividend of $74.9 million to the Capital Investment Fund.
The above results were released in the 17th Annual Report of the Land Registry Trading Fund tabled in the Legislative Council today by the Secretary for Development, Mrs Carrie Lam.
Ms Nip said that the Land Registry successfully launched a new search service system in August 2010, with enhanced technical design to promote stability in the delivery of search services to customers via the Internet. The IRIS Online Services have migrated to the new system, which provides an extension in service hours from 16 to 20 hours daily.
"About 90% of the 5.8 million searches on the land register made during the year were through our electronic services," she added.
The 17th Annual Report of the Land Registry Trading Fund can be viewed or downloaded from the Land Registry website at www.landreg.gov.hk.
Ends/Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Issued at HKT 14:35
NNNN
