This was to identify “who these buyers were” and keep track of the money entering the real estate industry.
BENGALURU: Alarmed by the large number of fraudulent transactions and investments worth crores happening in real estate, the Union government is now thinking of making Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) or Aadhaar mandatory for property registrations.
At a meeting of inspector-generals of stamps and registrations in Chandigarh recently, the Centre mooted making Aadhaar cards mandatory for property owners, said sources. This was to identify “who these buyers were” and keep track of the money entering the real estate industry.
The Centre is looking at Aadhaar as a source of weeding out transactions which are entered into by non-residential Indians (NRI) and foreigners. With coverage of no less than 97% in the country, Aadhaar cards will help the Centre track individuals who purchase properties in India.
“For the time being, states will accept other legal documents for identification of persons buying properties. In future, Aadhaar numbers will be required for registration,” said officials who attended the meeting. However, according to a Supreme Court order, Aadhaar is purely voluntary by nature and cannot be made mandatory.
At the same meeting, the Centre also ruled out the possibility of e-registration and mortgaging of properties, again fearing fraudulent transactions. While the state government wanted to do away with the presence of landowners before the registering authorities while mortgaging properties with financial institutions, it required the Centre’s assent to amend the Registration Act of 1908, which was turned down.
Sources said the only state to introduce e-mortgaging and registration was Maharashtra. However, in that state too, only structures which have more than 500 units and fall under the Rent Control Act are e-registered.
Guidance value to go up:
The state government has decided to hike guidance value for real estate and properties from April 1. The hike is likely to be in the range of 10-30%, depending on the area and locality, effectively making purchase of residential apartments and commercial spaces, apart from land deals, costlier after March 31.
HomeShikari’s View – by Mr. P. Sunder (CEO)
Linking it to Aadhar would be a great move because a large section of the Indian population now has the card. If this is a move to curb black money in property transactions, then the systems will have to integrated to track down. That said, the Supreme court has ruled that Aadhar is purely voluntary and cannot be made mandatory. That poses a problem to its implementation.
Courtsey: Sandeep Moudgal | TNN | 16 February 2016