Relief for co-op housing societies

Maharashtra govt extends date for issuing deemed conveyance till December

The Maharashtra government has extended a special campaign to issue deemed conveyance (DC) deeds to eligible co-operative housing societies (CHS) till December-end. The drive had received a lukewarm response last year.

According to the provisions of Maharashtra Ownership Flats Act of 1963, the promoter (builder/developer) is legally required to convey the land and building within four months of formation to the society or any legal body of the flat purchasers.

According to the provisions under Section 11 of the Act, the conveyance of land is the right of the CHS and the duty of the property developer to be executed within four months from the date of registration of the co-operative housing society.  

However, the state government noticed that many promoters had not conveyed land or buildings to legal bodies.

A senior government official told Business Standard: ''Of 90,000 registered societies in the state, very few have so far received DC.   There are 23,496 housing societies Mumbai.  Of these, less than a thousand had obtained their conveyance deed before a special drive started in 2012. Of the 903 societies that applied for, 549 were issued the conveyance instrument.  

In 2013, about 380  societies have been given conveyance so far. Under the special campaign, all societies who have completed four months since its formation are entitled to apply for DC. The government has taken a conscious decision to set up DC court under the chairmanship of district collector to address various difficulties faced by societies.''

Yomesh Rao, director, YMS Consultants, welcomed the state government's move.

''It is wise on the part of the government to extend the campaign to promote the redevelopment of existing societies. This will avoid malpractices followed by developers to hold on to societies’ future potential floor space index (FSI) by not giving them conveyance," he said. Rao emphasised the need for simplification of the process to issue DC in order to curb corruption.

However, Dilip Shah, senior counselor for Redevelopment of Housing Societies, said there was no provision of deemed conveyance. ''The government will have to amend the Transfer of Property Act. Besides, there is a need to amend the Stamp Act. Thereafter, DC can be given only on the strength of registration of the society," he added.

Shah suggested that DC can be issued based on the available documents with the society.

NCP legislator from north central Mumbai Nawab Malik argued that the government should not be blamed for non-issuance of DC to societies, as the onus also lies on the societies.

''Many societies are not coming forward to get DC as a large number of their members had not paid stamp duty and registration fee within stipulated time. The government will have to introduce amnesty scheme for the payment of registration fee and stamp duty which should be restricted only to flat and not for land dealings," he added.