Societies can get conveyance with single document

Here’s heartening news for housing societies struggling to obtain titles to the land on which their flats are located. Once proposals submitted by a state committee become law, societies will merely have to submit a list of flat purchasers (members) to be eligible for deemed conveyance.

A draft notification, formulated earlier by the state housing department for granting deemed conveyance of the land and the building to housing societies, had proposed the submission of 21 property and title-related documents. The provision of deemed conveyance was thought of in cases where there were long delays by builders in this regard.

Following objections raised by several housing societies and individual flat purchasers, a state-appointed committee working on the draft notification has now modified the clause. “Possessing even one of these 21 documents will now make the society eligible for applying for deemed conveyance,” said Sitaram Kunte, secretary, housing department, who is also chairing the committee. Kunte made this announcement during a convention on deemed conveyance organised by MP Sanjay Nirupam for the benefit of housing societies in the western suburbs.

The committee has stipulated, in one of its amendments, that the deemed conveyance could be applied for by any society, where the title of the plot has not been conveyed within four months of the society’s formation. “A society member, in his individual capacity, could apply too,” Prabhu clarified. The district deputy registrar will be required to pass a ruling on an application within six months.

The cost of the application will be collected from the developer. At least 16,000 societies in Mumbai are yet to get conveyance.
The 21 documents mentioned in the draft relate to the chain of transactions concerning the property.

They included original copies of the 7/12 extract, property card, location plan, city survey plan, approved layout plan, latest title and search reports, urban land ceiling certificate, various civic permissions ranging from commencement certificate to occupation certificate, list of flat purchasers, registered copies of their agreement with the developer, proof of stamp duty and registration payment and development agreement, among other documents.

Several housing societies conveyed their inability to procure all the documents mentioned in the original draft notification, which was published in August last year.    

Responding to these, the clause which mentioned that “every application shall be accompanied by 21 documents” has now been altered to “every application may be accompanied by these.”
Ramesh Prabhu, a member on the committee and chairman of Maharashtra Societies Welfare Association, elaborated further.

“The onus of submitting these documents has now been transferred to the developers.” He added: “Following an application made by the society to the competent authority (district deputy registrar) along with whatever documents are found in their possession, a notice will be served on the developer to submit the remaining necessary documents within a month’s time, failing which an adverse order will be passed against him.”

Prabhu further said that the amendment mentions that in the event of failure of the developer to produce all the documents, the onus will shift on the deputy registrar to procure these. Kunte said that conveyance of individual housing societies situated in a layout plot (complex) will also be possible once the notification is enacted. Prabhu added that the notification, with all its amendments, will be in place within a month.