In a bid to kick start the registration of property transactions during the coronavirus lockdown, the Maharashtra government, on Monday, took a crucial decision to promote e-registration. This was necessary, as since March 22, the manual registration of an agreement between the builder and the property purchaser had come to a halt, impacting the collection of stamp and registration duty. Currently, online registration is taking place for the leave and license agreement. With today’s decision, the first agreement between the builder and the purchaser can be done online.
The decision was taken at the meeting chaired by Revenue Minister Balasaheb Thorat and attended by the additional chief secretary (revenue) Nitin Kareer and Inspector Generation of Registration (IGR) Omprakash Deshmukh.
According to the government notification, the number of documents required for registration has been reduced to just 20 from 500. This will help even a single builder and developer to make online registration. Registration can be possible by the builder for draft 20 units registered with the Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA) and for 50 non RERA draft units.
Raha Realtors CMD Rajesh Mehta told FPJ, “The government decision will boost the registration of more and more deals by reducing the human interface at the sub registrar office.’’
Earlier, the permission for such an agreement was to be sanctioned by the IGR office. It has now been transferred to the local joint district registrar. This is to expedite the registration process. Further, the scanning free for online registration has been fixed to Rs 1,000 as earlier from Rs 20 per page.
The developer will need good internet connection, thumbs scanner, CCTV recording facility, and RERA certificate. Builders Association of India spokesman Anand Gupta said, since March 22, there has been no movement in the registration of sale and purchase documents. “The government’s move will give a good start. I hope that this will increase the transactions. Further, it will be instrumental to revive the real estate, which is badly affected due to lockdown,’’ he noted.
