A slot reservation is now mandatory for the property registration in Maharashtra

The slot-booking procedure will mean that every one of the state’s five hundred nineteen property registration offices only gets to handle under thirty registrations every day. It would bring about a significant drop in the government income during the first month of the new fiscal year.

All real estate transfers and purchases in India are necessary to get registered under the Registration Act of 1908. The exchange of residential properties must get registered to receive ownership rights. In Maharashtra, property registration is handled by the Department of Registration and Stamp.

People of Maharashtra who are intending to register their real estates in April will have to reserve time slots at the relevant management office via the e-step-in service.

This is done to promote the “break the chain” activity initiated by the Maharashtra government. Following a major increase in reports of the coronavirus infection (Covid-19) in the state, it declared constraints, which includes a partial lockdown. Section 144 is in effect throughout the day. This curfew ensures that more than five individuals cannot be seen together from 8 in the morning till seven at night. During the curfew time, only emergency services will be permitted, according to state minister Nawab Malik.

According to Provision twenty-five of the Maharashtra Registration Act, the homebuyer’s paperwork for registration of a residential property deed needs to be sent to the relevant Registrar official within four months. A fine of up to 10 times the land registration fee will be waived upon failure.

The slot-booking system will mean that every one of the state’s five hundred nineteen registration offices only manages twenty-five to thirty registrations every day. All property registration centers will only be open on weekdays from 10 in the morning to 6 in the evening. All such offices would remain shut during the weekends to comply with the new curfew rules. All these suggest a significant drop in the government revenue in the beginning month of the new fiscal year. But this action was necessary to be taken because Maharashtra is the worst-hit state by the virus.

According to a top property registration officer, just a handful of homebuyers may come out during such prohibitions after scheduling an online slot. It would harm revenue the collection of tax at the beginning of the new financial year.

The prediction of the registration officer came to be true. A Kondhwa citizen, for example, chose to do just that. Before any of the rules came into place, the homebuyer intended to register her real estate in April. But she decided to change her plans and wait for a better time to come. 

According to another senior registration official, Purchasers who prepaid their stamp duty before March will have to adopt a similar process for reserving slots through the e-step-in facility. They need to go to the state’s residential property registry portal to reserve the time slots and receive a confirmation on the time slot assigned to them.

When heading to the registration office, the notice regarding the reserved slot cannot get missed. Inspector-general Shravan Hardikar said that only the people required to be available for the property registration procedure would have the authority to go inside. These rules are simply to maintain a minimum number of visitors at the registration offices. He urged builders to conduct e-registration of new estates from their offices to minimize foot traffic at the sub-registrar office.

The Covid-19 pandemic hampered purchases in the housing industry and led the real estate industry to almost come to a standstill. Credai officials emphasized that new regulations will affect the registrations and the real estate industry in the state. 

Shantilal Kataria, nationwide vice-president of CREDAI, said that the government did see several registrations till March. She further added that the stamp duty waiver to female homebuyers provided some impetus to the real estate. She requests the authorities to rethink the proposal to continue the stamp duty waiver in the current scenario. If the state legislature declares that the regulations would not affect the sector, they must take the necessary measures to ensure this.

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are for informational purposes only based on industry reports and related news stories. PropertyPistol does not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of the information and shall not be held responsible for any action taken based on the published information.