In a major decision, the Union Cabinet on October 23 approved regulations for conferring or recognising ownership or mortgage or transfer rights to 40 lakh residents of 1,797 unauthorised colonies in Delhi.
The Bill will be introduced in the next session of Parliament during the Winter Session, that commences on November 18.
The development comes just a few months ahead of the Delhi Legislative Assembly elections, scheduled to take place in early 2020.
The decision will benefit more than 40 lakh residents of unauthorised colonies spread over around 175 sq kms, as development or redevelopmentcan now take place in these colonies resulting in a clean, secure and healthy living environment, said Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Singh Puri.
This initiative will address major issues being faced by the residents of unauthorised colonies such as lack of ownership or transfer rights, provision of basic infrastructure and civic amenities.
"With recognition of property documents, the property holders in these colonies can now enter into valid property transactions. Besides providing a legitimate claim to the property, the decision will encourage property holders to invest in safe structures, thereby improving the living conditions in these colonies substantially.
"Ownership rights will be conferred to the people who are living there whether they are living on private land or government land because many of these transactions have taken place on the basis of general power of attorney or some other documentation. We have decided to go ahead and confer these rights which will enable the inhabitants of these colonies to apply for permission, to raise FAR, to build, to sell, to take a loan and all manner of transactions," Puri told reporters.
Later, commenting on the Centre's decision to grant ownershp rights to 40 lakh residents living in unathorised colonies, Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal said that "this has been an old demand of the people of Delhi'.
"We welcome this decision and I would like to thank Central government on behalf of the people," said Kejriwal.
He made it clear that these rights will be conferred to the inhabitants on payment of nominal rates.
The rights will be conferred on payment of nominal charge based on carpet area/plot size. For colonies on Government land, the charge will be 0.5% (for less than 100 sq m), 1% (for 100 - 250 sqm) and 2.5% (for greater than 250 sqm), of the circle rate of highest category of locality of the residential area surrounding the unauthorized colonies, Puri said.
For colonies on private land, the charge will be half of the charge on government land, he said.
The decision is applicable to 1,797 identified UCs, which are inhabited by lower income group society. The decision does not apply to 69 affluent colonies identified by DDA, including Sainik Farms, Mahendru Enclave and Anant Ram Dairy.
In the ensuing session of the Parliament, the Central Government will introduce a Bill for recognizing General Power of Attorney (GPA), Will, Agreement to Sell, Purchase and possession documents, which will be a one-time relaxation for this purpose for the residents of the unauthorized colonies.
The Bill will provide for registration charge and stamp duty on last transaction and also address the issue of income tax liability on account of less than circle rate charges.
DDA will lay down a simplified procedure for issuing conveyance deed and registration of property. Boundaries of the unathorised colonies and clusters of UCs will be delineated by DDA. DDA will prepare Local Area Plan (LAP) for all UCs, sources said.
There will be no penalty and external development charges (EDC).
Multiple plots/flats holders will be charged on the rate applicable to area by clubbing all properties.
Residents will have option to pay charge in three equal instalments to be paid in a year. Any person paying full amount in one instalment will get the ownership rights immediately. Provisional rights will be given on payment of 02 instalments, which will be converted to permanent rights after full and final payment. Late payment to attract simple interest at the rate of 8% per annum.
Conveyance deed will be executed for residential purpose, irrespective of use.
As per the existing Regulations of 2008, the entire process of regularization was to be coordinated and supervised by Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi, (GNCTD) by giving wide publicity. Delineation of boundary of UC is the starting point of the process as per the Regulations. However, GNCTD could not delineate the boundaries of these colonies even after 11 years of issuance of the Regulations and has sought more time upto 2021 to complete this exercise.
People living in these UCs have neither invested in safe structures nor could the Government create any social infrastructure on account of these colonies having developed without approved Layout Plan (LOP).
In the absence of basic amenities, the residents of these colonies are living in uninhabitable conditions. Though the Master Plan Delhi-2021 allows for redevelopment of colonies with 50% additional Floor Area Ratio (FAR) as an incentive, no redevelopment has taken place so far as the residents do not have ownership rights.
In order to confer or recognize ownership or mortgage or transfer rights to residents of UCs, a Committee, headed by the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi, was constituted, with approval of the Union Cabinet, to recommend the process for conferment/recognition of rights of ownership or transfer or mortgage of property and thereby create an opportunity for redevelopment of such areas in a planned manner.
Based on the recommendations of the Committee and elaborate consultations with all stakeholders the above proposals to notify revised Regulations and introduce a Bill in the Parliament have been finalised. Get access to India's fastest growing financial subscriptions service Moneycontrol Pro for as little as Rs 599 for first year. Use the code "GETPRO". Moneycontrol Pro offers you all the information you need for wealth creation including actionable investment ideas, independent research and insights & analysis For more information, check out the Moneycontrol website or mobile app.
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