Builders from Bihar are set to approach the government for looking into recent changes in the Bihar registration rules to allow registration of older flats and commercial spaces.
People who have purchased flats and commercial spaces in the past are, at present, denied registration of properties under the amended registration rules of the government. This is because all buildings constructed in the past three decades or so fall in the category of ongoing projects, as occupation certificates were never issued by the competent authorities of the state government.
So, the builders need to register such projects with the Real Estate Regulatory Authority (Rera), Bihar, to be able to register the properties for their customers.
“We are going to meet the minister for registration department with a memorandum, urging him to make necessary changes in the rules so that those already living in flats — in case of residential projects — or those with commercial space can get their properties registered,” said Narendra Kumar, the Bihar chapter president of the Confederation of Real Estate Developers Association of India.
He said the government could set some parameters such as municipal receipts or electricity bills as proof to establish the ownership of the individual concerned, who is in possession of the property well before the implementation of the cut-off date of the new real estate Act, to which Rera Bihar owes its origin, and allow registration of such properties so that genuine customers do not suffer.
At least one such property owner, who had purchased a flat more than a decade ago, told The Telegraph: “I didn’t have the sufficient funds to register my flat at that time. Now that I have managed the funds, I am not being allowed to register the flat.”
The resident did not wish to reveal the name, lest it’s revealed that the flat his family lives in hadn’t been registered in his name till date.
Sources in the local real estate market said there were about 10,000 such properties where owners had not got their properties registered.
Bijendra Yadav, who holds the portfolio for registration, said: “Let the stakeholders submit their memorandum. The government will look into all the points before taking any decision on this issue.”