23 - 09 - 2020

CREDAI Bengal Daily News Update | 23.09.20

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Newspaper/Online The Times of India ( online )

Date September 23, 2020

Land owners can't be punished in joint ventures: Tamil Nadu

RERA

The state’s realty regulator underscored that the ‘promoter’ is alone liable for action

against whom homebuyers can proceed for violation of RERA Act.

In a relief for land owners who are part of joint venture housing projects, the Tamil Nadu Real

Estate Regulatory Authority (TNRERA) has ruled that the owners are not party to the case if

undivided share (UDS) has been registered for homebuyers.

The state’s realty regulator underscored that the ‘promoter’ is alone liable for action against

whom homebuyers can proceed for violation of RERA Act.

The order said a company registered under the Companies Act and represented by its managing

director is a legal person who can sue and be sued. The complaint pertains to a housing project

named Vardhana Constellation in Coimbatore being executed by Sree Vardhana Builders Pvt.

Ltd.

While two separate complaints were filed by homebuyers against 12 persons including eight

land owners as respondents, queries were raised whether the landlords were party to the

complaint.

In the order, TNRERA adjudicating officer G Saravanan said landowners of the project site

have executed general power of attorney to the developer. In turn, the developer had executed

sale deed for UDS in favour of homebuyers and entered into a construction agreement for

delivery of apartments. “Only the first respondent (company) comes under the definition of

promoter under the RERA Act and can be proceeded and made liable by the homebuyer for any

violation or contravention of the provisions of the Act,” the order said.

The real estate regulator said a previous order delivered last year cannot be applied in the

present case. It was a case of owners who had executed power of attorney to a third party and

not in favour of the builder, besides no sale deed for UDS was executed in favour of the

homebuyer. “In this case, the developer has entered into a registered joint venture agreement

with the land owners and power of attorney, besides the promoter also executed the sale deed

for UDS in favour of the homebuyer," the order said.

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Newspaper/Online ET Realty ( online )

Date September 23, 2020

Link https://realty.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/regulatory/land-owners-cant-be-punished-in-joint-ventures-tamil-nadu-rera/78268194

After revenue, Telangana to clip powers of registration department

The government has recently issued orders restricting the sub-registrar offices (SROs) for

registering only non-agriculture properties, while tahsildars have been given powers to

register agriculture properties.

After curtailing the powers of tahsildars in mutation of lands and other powers through new

Revenue Act, Telangana government is now gearing up to cut the discretionary powers of

registration and stamps (R&S) department soon. The government is also planning to initiate

reforms to reduce corruption in the department.

The government has recently issued orders restricting the sub-registrar offices (SROs) for

registering only non-agriculture properties, while tahsildars have been given powers to register

agriculture properties.

Official sources said the R&S department is registering properties by collecting registration and

stamp duty fees based on the agreement value of the property (between the two parties) and

government value of the property whichever is higher.

“Under section 47-A of the Indian Stamp Act, the R&S department has powers to revise the

registration value of the property. This revision is done if a particular property is valued high

though it is located in a bylane or not suitable for development. In such cases, the R&S

department can reduce the value of the property 20% to even up to 50% justifying the reason for

reduction and conducting inspection. Now, the government is now planning to scrap such

powers to the department officials,” a senior official of CMO said. Secondly, the SROs are

taking two to three days for providing scanned copies of registration documents to the parties

after registration is done.

Officials said the government wants to ensure the registration scanned document should be

provided on the same day even entrusting the scanning work to the private agencies.

The CM said document templates would be kept ready, which can be used by the prospective

buyers and sellers of the properties for registrations. “Only one or two document writers will be

given licence to help people who cannot prepare the documents on their own. Taking action

against them if they indulge in any malpractices like cancellation of the licence will be

incorporated in the reforms,” sources said.

Following allegations that many document writers have become conduits for SROs in collecting

bribes along with their document preparation charges, the CM has directed the officials to issue

licence to one or two document writers

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Newspaper/Online ET Realty ( online )

Date September 22, 2020

Link https://realty.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/regulatory/after-revenue-telangana-to-clip-powers-of-registration-department/78252268

Jaipur civic body rolls back one-time urban development tax

In February 2018, the state government came up with a new order that a person could pay

urban development tax at one go for eight years. This, however, was considered to be a big

loss for JMC as people started misusing it.

Jaipur Municipal Corporation (JMC) has rolled back the order that allowed residents to

pay urban development tax at one go.

In February 2018, the state government came up with a new order that a person could pay urban

development tax at one go for eight years. This, however, was considered to be a big loss for

JMC as people started misusing it.

Deputy commissioner of revenue Naveen Bhardhwaj said, “People started altering their

properties after paying tax for eight years. This was against our interests as people were

avoiding paying taxes leading to revenue losses for us. Hence, we asked the authorities to roll

back the order.”

“If everyone started paying one-time urban development tax, than after few years the

corporation will not be earning any revenue. We need revenue generation every year,” said

Bhardhwaj.

People who made alterations in their properties after paying the advance tax will be charged

again accordingly as the order is now been rolled back. Any property that is still in the same

form as it was when the advance tax was paid, will not be charged anything till the 8-year term

expires.

This order was issued because the collection of urban development tax was really poor in the

JMC. The government wanted to motivate people to pay more tax even that included one-time

payment.

JMC was able to collect more than Rs 73 crore of urban development tax this year. After a gap

of 15 years, the civic body will start its property survey to identify properties taxable for urban

development tax. Municipal Corporation Jaipur, Heritage and Greater has given the contract to

a firm.

Taxable property survey was last conducted in 2005 and since then the population of the city

has almost doubled. At present there are 1,32,000 properties taxable that were identified in the

Newspaper/Online ET Realty ( online )

Date September 22, 2020

Link https://realty.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/regulatory/jaipur-civic-body-rolls-back-one-time-urban-development-tax/78248269

2005 survey. Lack of updated survey of taxable properties has been a major economic blow to

the revenue of the municipal corporation.

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South Delhi civic body de-seals 185 properties: Mayor

Mayor Anamika said that the SDMC has started the process of de-sealing, and 173

properties in the South Zone and 12 in the West Zone of the SDMC have been desealed.

The South Delhi Municipal Corporation on Tuesday started the process of de-sealing properties

in residential areas with 185 of these being de-sealed on day one of the excercise.

Mayor Anamika said that the SDMC has started the process of de-sealing, and 173 properties in

the South Zone and 12 in the West Zone of the SDMC have been desealed.

She said that de-sealing process will also start in Central and Najafgarh Zones from Wednesday

onwards.

The de-sealing process is being initiated in pursuance of a directive by the Supreme Court, he

said.

On August 14, the apex court had said that encroachment is a matter of concern but the

monitoring committee, set up in 2006 to identify unauthorised structures and check misuse of

residential properties in Delhi, "cannot exceed its power" and take any action beyond its

authorisation.

A large number of properties, residential and commercial, have been sealed in the last few years

for violation of Delhi master plan norms.

The mayor claimed that some properties under the jurisdiction of SDMC were "wrongly sealed

by the Monitoring Committee".

"Such 604 properties will be de-sealed under this process. She has also written a letter to all 104

councillors of the SDMC, urging them to identify the sealed properties in their respective areas

and help the public in de-sealing, and also make them aware of the process of de-sealing," the

mayor's office said in a statement.

She also urged citizens to contact the zonal offices of the corporation for de-sealing of their

properties as soon as possible.

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Newspaper/Online ET Realty ( online )

Date September 23, 2020

Link https://realty.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/industry/south-delhi-civic-body-de-seals-185-properties-mayor/78268420

Mumbai: Strict conditions for builders have halted revamp of

cessed buildings

Mhada has not issued a single NOC for redevelopment of such buildings since the new

conditions were introduced last September.

The redevelopment of cessed buildings has been stuck for over a year because of a government

resolution (GR) issued in September 2019, even as old and dilapidated buildings in the city

continue to collapse with appalling frequency.

The Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority’s (Mhada) Mumbai Building

Repairs and Redevelopment Board (MBRRB), which regulates the redevelopment of old,

cessed buildings, has not issued a single no-objection certificate (NOC) since the GR was issued

last year by the state housing department under the then BJP-led government.

The GR, dated September 11, 2019, made the conditions for redevelopment by private builders

so stringent that no developer has been able to fulfill them. As a result, NOCs for the

redevelopment of at least a 100 buildings are stuck and people continue to live in dangerous

structures. One of the conditions in the GR is that any builder who wants to redevelop a cessed

building must have a turnover of Rs 10 crore to Rs 50 crore in three years.

Another says the builder should have already constructed 500 houses to be eligible to redevelop

a cessed building. Ironically, when the GR was passed, officials said the amended guidelines

were meant to expedite the redevelopment of cessed buildings after Kesarbai Mansion at Dongri

collapsed in July 2019, killing 16 people.

A senior Mhada official said, “We have received and scrutinised many applications. But

because the builders don’t meet the criteria laid down in the GR, we have not been able to issue

any NOCs in the past 12 months. Because of this, all the changes made in Mhada’s norms to

fact-track redevelopment have proved futile. Till this GR is scrapped, nothing will move.” He

added, “No builder or landlord is approaching Mhada anymore. We are waiting for the GR to be

scrapped.”

Mhada officials said there are around 14,000 odd cessed buildings in Mumbai, many of which

are in urgent need of redevelopment. A cessed building is one on which tax — to fund its

repairs — has been paid. These buildings are mainly located in south and central Mumbai,

where buildings date back to the pre-Independence era. Cessed buildings are owned by private

landlords and are regulated by the Bombay Rent Control Act.

Newspaper/Online ET Realty ( online )

Date September 23, 2020

Link https://realty.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/residential/mumbai-strict-conditions-for-builders-have-halted-revamp-of-cessed-buildings/78268280

One of these is Byculla’s Abdulla Mansion. First declared dangerous in 2012, its redevelopment

has been stuck for want of an NOC as the builder hasn’t been able to fulfill the myriad

conditions in the GR. The four-storey building has 50 flats — though only 25 are currently

occupied — and has been issued a vacation notice by Mhada.

Samajwadi Party MLA Rais Shaikh said, “The builder has submitted a proposal and is waiting

for an NOC. Just because of the September 2019 order, no NOC is being issued. The conditions

in the NOC are so stringent and impractical that no small or medium-sized builder can fulfil

them. If the building falls and people die, Mhada will be responsible.” Shaikh has written to

Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, asking him to scrap the September 2019 orders and fast-

track NOCs.

Amin Patel, Congress MLA from Mumbadevi, said that Housing Minister Jitendra Awhad had

announced in the state legislative assembly earlier this month that the September 2019 order

would be scrapped. “But even two weeks after the minister’s announcement, the GR hasn’t

been scrapped. Hundreds of NOCs are stuck and thousands of people are at risk as they

continue to live in old, dilapidated buildings. The GR must be scrapped. Given the Covid-19

pandemic, norms for redevelopment must be relaxed and builders must be given concessions so

that redevelopment can move forward,” he said.

Patel added that most cessed buildings stand on small land parcels of 200 to 1,500 square

metres. At such sites, redevelopment is usually undertaken by small developers or the landlords

themselves, he said, but they can’t fulfill the stringent criteria laid down in last year’s GR.

Awhad said, “MLAs from all parties have demanded that this GR be scrapped. I have already

announced in the legislative assembly that it has been scrapped and it stands cancelled. If there

is any delay in the formal scrapping, I will look into it.”

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Goa government departments asked to submit compliance of

housing loan EMIs

It was noticed that several departments deducted the EMIs from the salaries of employees

for repayment of HBA home loans but failed to deposit the funds with the bank.

Days after the state government directed the accounts department to monitor the repayment

loans taken under the House Building Advance scheme (HBA), the accounts department has

asked all government departments and agencies to submit self-certification showing

compliance.

Earlier this month, it was noticed that several departments deducted the EMIs from the salaries

of employees for repayment of HBA home loans but failed to deposit the funds with the bank.

The government has now said that every department head is responsible for the repayment of

the HBA loan while the accounts department will ensure compliance.

“Salary bills are prepared at the division level or at the department level, and as per the

directions of the finance department, the EMI has to be deducted from the salary and this has to

be done by the department or the division officer,” said director of accounts Dilip Humraskar.

“The departments will deduct the amount and give it to us. Whatever amount is deducted, we

will credit it to the bank.”

Starting with the salary for September, every department’s pay audit section will have to submit

a statement along with the salary bill certifying that recovery towards HBA has been deducted

from the employee’s salary, said the accounts department in a circular issued to all departments.

In the first week of September, Goa Forward Party had accused the state government of

deducting monthly instalments from the salaries of government employees but keeping the

funds with the state treasury. GFP office bearers had said that banks were asking employees to

pay Rs 30,000 to Rs 40,000 as additional interest and were also threatening to declare the loan

accounts as non-performing assets.

Humraskar said that henceforth, monthly instalments deducted from the salaries of government

employees will be paid to the banks on a regular basis as long as departments comply with the

finance department’s guidelines.

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Newspaper/Online ET Realty ( online )

Date September 22, 2020

Link https://realty.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/industry/goa-government-departments-asked-to-submit-compliance-of-housing-loan-emis/78248411

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