By I C Naik
There is a good news for Maharashtra Cooperative housing in the shape of further easing of norms on deemed conveyance in offing.
Having made a half-baked attempt two years ago, to reduce the number of such unfortunate tenants in their own homes, the Maharashtra government on Wednesday issued another promissory to initiate string of reforms in the newly devised law on deemed conveyances.
Minister of state for housing Sachin Ahir made certain announcements in the just started monsoon session of Maharashtra legislative assembly that
· The government was willing to do a rethink on the existing formula to calculate stamp duty, which is currently assessed on the basis of market rates.
· It is also open to giving exemption from paying additional local body cess and Local Body Tax on the value of flats.
· Issue of unsold flats would also be looked into apart from taking action against builders for non-execution of conveyance deeds.
The Minister reportedly hastened to add “While no final decision has been taken on these measures, we are keen to consider these issues going forward in future,”
Reportedly out of 23K plus housing societies in the city barely 1K had their conveyance deeds in their hands before a special drive started in 2012.
Reportedly of the 900 odd societies that applied, little more than half have been issued the conveyance instrument. After 2012, nearly 400 applied and less than hundred have been handed down the conveyance instrument so far. These numbers indicate the level of enthusiasm to secure conveyance.
The anomalies in the conveyance law and the ongoing special drive were discussed in the assembly with several MLAs pointing out that flat owners were facing hardship in completing the formalities. The poor response to the state’s scheme would continue if the government did not relax the existing norms, they said. Some MLAs reportedly alleged that developers were being asked to pay bribes to government officers to record a property card variation.
Understandably the housing societies cannot afford to pay this and have no option but to keep resisting the scheme, they said. “Many of these flat owners in Navi Mumbai and Thane live in fear that once they move out of dilapidated houses, they will lose the ownership of their land forever.
“The chief minister must make sure that the title of the land passes to the government in cases of dilapidated and dangerous buildings seeking conveyance while going for redevelopment,” said one NCP MLA as per media reports.