Noida realtors told to register properties or face FIR

Noida: The Gautam Budh Nagar stamp and registration department has issued a notice to realtors directing them to get their flats registered, otherwise the department will file a First Information Report (FIR) against them.

“If a realtor will not execute registry within a month, then an FIR will be filed against the realtor under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code,” stated the notice issued to all realtors on Tuesday.

Officials said there are at least 1 lakh apartments whose registry has not been done by realtors, causing revenue loss in as many as 200 projects. Officials said realtors have offered possession in these flats illegally without execution of registry, as they turned defaulters by not paying ₹50,000 crore to the Noida and Greater Noida authorities.

“The department has issued notices to realtors according to the Uttar Pradesh government’s instructions. We will have to take effective steps to recover the revenue if the realtor will not obey directions,” said Suhas LY, district magistrate, Gautam Budh Nagar administration.

Realtors had not cleared dues because they were demanding reduction in the rate of interest levied upon the financial dues to 8.5% from 23%. Registry can take place only if the building is ready with occupancy certificate and all dues are cleared, after which 7% of the total property cost has to be paid in stamp fee to the government.

“We are appealing to realtors that they should offer possession only after registry and payment of stamp fee. If the registry is not issued due to legal tangles, then the realtor and homebuyers should buy stamp papers to pay the fee because that is mandatory,” said Amit Modi, president of western Uttar Pradesh chapter of confederation of real estate developers’ association of India (Credai), a realtors’ group and promoter of County Group.

The department also said in the notice that homebuyers should communicate to their respective realtors demanding flat registry, as this is causing “revenue loss to the state government”.

The administration said it will not trouble apartment owners or realtors if the agreement to sub-lease is executed after paying the stamp fee to the government.

However, homebuyers say the government should intervene to address their demands.

“The realtors have offered possession without following rules and now do not want to pay the dues to the authorities. We demand that the state government should address this long pending issue properly. So far, the authority or the state government has not addressed our demands,” said Arun Chauhan, who bought a flat in Sector 119.

Homebuyers also contend that the agreement to-sub lease is not the solution to their problem. “In agreement to sub-lease, we have to suffer at multiple stages because this process guarantees revenue to the state government but does not protect our interests. One problem with this agreement to sub-lease is that the buyer has to pay registration fee twice. Other problems are that the buyer cannot take a bank loan, cannot transfer title to anyone else or make a sale of their dwelling unit. The homebuyers will also be in an uncertain position until the realtor solves the registry issue by paying dues to respective authorities,” said Kapil Singh, a homebuyer of Prim Rose project in Greater Noida.