Knowing how to a register a flat in Mumbai is important for a person’s legal ownership over a property. When you purchase or receive a flat, its agreement of sale, transfer, gift or lease needs to be registered with the government for the transaction to be considered valid and legal under The Registration Act, 1908. Rules in the state are framed under the Maharashtra Registration Rules, 1961.
What is the significance of flat registration?
Legally, a flat owner’s name is not changed or transferred until the sale or gift transaction is registered with the government. Any unregistered transaction has no legal validity or standing in the court of law.
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Which transactions of a flat need to be registered?
Any transaction of sale, transfer, lease or gift of a flat within family members has to be registered with the sub-registrar’s office for it to be considered valid and legal. The registration process has to be undertaken even if there is no enumeration exchanged while transferring the flat.
When should you register your flat?
“The flat must be registered within four months of the execution of the agreement or deed. In case the sale deed is not registered within four months, it can be registered from the 5th to the 8th month by paying a penalty ranging from 100-400% of the registration fee,” says Advocate Vinod Sampath, president of Co-operative Society Residents and Users Association. A flat is charged with 1% of the value of the property as registration fee, only up to Rs 30,000. Delays beyond eight months need to apply for condonation or delay of admission and could attract higher fines.
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Where can you get the flat registration form?
The application form for registration is available online to be downloaded, filled up and submitted at the sub-registrar’s office. The form can be filled online with basic details like Cadastral Survey no. (CS no.) of the building, year of construction of building, floor on which the flat is located, whether the building has lift facility, etc. Based on the details submitted, the software of the website computes the stamp duty and generates details of other payments to be made for the registration. Stamp duty can also be made directly online, which is the government receipt accounting system of the Maharashtra government’s finance ministry after obtaining the e-challan.
For those who do not have the facility of net-banking, payments can also be made through authorised banks, a list of which is available online under the section ‘available banks’.
What are the different charges to be paid for flat registration?
Apart from registration charges, which is 1% of the value of the flat, the flat buyer has to pay a stamp duty levied at the rate of 5% of the market value as mentioned in the ready reckoner, with provisions for concessions available for flats being gifted or transferred within family members. A document handling charge at Rs 20 per page of the sale agreement is also charged.
Who computes my stamp duty? Where do I need to pay stamp duty?
Under the section ‘online services’ at www.igrmaharashtra.gov.in, there is provision for e-registration only for flats in new buildings and for registering leave and licence agreements. The website helps automatically calculate the e-stamp duty to be paid, and issues a challan after making the payment, according to Advocate Vinod Sampath.
Where do I need to go to get my registration done?
Beyond the payments, the rest of the procedures have to be completed offline by visiting the sub-registrar’s office of the jurisdiction of your flat. Sub registrar offices located for flats within Mumbai are at Old Customs House in Fort, Adharsh Nagar in Worli, Family Court building in Bandra Kurla Complex, Lallubhai Park Road near Andheri station (W), at MTNL buildings in Khar, Jogeshwari and Goregaon, Charkop, Borivli (East and West), Exzim Link Complex at Nahur and New Administrative building at Chembur. The entire list of Mumbai offices are available online under the section ‘organisation’ followed by the subsection ‘offices’.
Which are the documents to be submitted for registration of flats?
Apart from the registration form, you need the original sale deed of the flat, no-objection certificate from the society and any government identity card to verify name and address proof, apart from PAN card details for financial agreements. You also need to have the receipt of payment of stamp duty to be considered for registration.
What if the building is new and has no formally registered committee overseeing it?
In case a society is new and does not have a managing committee, then the NOC from the developer must be submitted with the application form. However, this is not mandatory.
What happens next?
After the payment is made online, the applicant needs to visit the sub-registrar’s office, along with all their documents for verification and scrutiny. Advocate Sampath says that when the sale deed is presented before the sub-registrar’s office, officials verify the agreement of sale/transfer/lease/gift and check if the proper stamp duty has been paid. Since the department is now e-savvy, the original documents are returned back to the buyers almost within the same day. Efforts are on to get the entire flat registration process completely online. Once the document is approved, the sub-registrar’s office provides an appointment.
At the appointed day and time, the buyer and the seller of the flat have to be present in person, along with two witnesses. All of them, including the witnesses, need to bear personal identity proof issued by a government authority. These witnesses would also be asked to sign on registration documents, their fingerprints will be scanned for biometric verification and their photographs will be clicked for government documentation.
What are the basic precautions to keep in mind while registering the flat?
Advocate Sampath says that buyers always check the antecedents of the seller, if the particular flat had prior bank loans, and if there are any pending litigations or dues pending with the building society. He suggests that the entire chain of documents be double checked. He also recommends that the buyer check the carpet area and check if the seller had encroached any public spaces of the building. “Talk to the society before making any kind of payment,” he says.
A detailed FAQ resource is available on www.igrmahhelpline.gov.in in the section Citizen’s Area on the dashboard.
This explainer is part of a series on ‘Explainers and Information Resources for Mumbaikars’ supported by a grant from the A.T.E. Chandra Foundation.