The state may have passed up an opportunity to add crores to its coffers in the time of recession with a few thousand flats remaining unregistered till date.
Over 5,400 flats in Ranchi, Jamshedpur, Adityapur, Dhanbad and Bokaro are still not registered because of disputes among landowners, developers and purchasers.
A survey carried out by the state registration department has revealed that Ranchi tops the list with approximately 2,000 unregistered flats followed by Dhanbad (1,600), Jamshedpur (1,000) and Adityapur (800). Bokaro has the least number of unregistered property — only nine.
According to a rough estimate, the registration department would have earned a whopping Rs 27.45 crore against the total number of 5,409 unregistered flats — taking into account that each flat's area is 1,000sqft — across the state.
The figures have jolted the registration department, which has been napping all this while, from its slumber. Adopting a strict stand, it has mounted initiatives to get cracking on errant flat owners.
The department has issued directives to service providers such as the Jharkhand State Electricity Board and urban civic bodies, asking them not to provide power and water to the flats. Besides, the property owners will not be issued holding numbers of the municipal body concerned.
As a result, they will not be able to pay taxes while the process of getting bank loans will get delayed.
Deputy secretary of the registration department Dilip Kumar Toppo said they that they had asked the civic authorities — Ranchi Regional Development Authority (RRDA), Adityapur Industrial Area Development Authority and Mineral Area Development Authority, Dhanbad, — to circulate notices in areas falling in their jurisdiction.
"The notices will warn the flat owners about the fall-outs of not registering their property — whether residential or commercial. The apartment act makes it mandatory to register a property within six months of its possession," Toppo added.
RRDA sources told The Telegraph that in many cases, the owners could not register their property due to legal tussles between the original landowners and developers. "Many such cases are pending in the RRDA court as well as other courts too," said an RRDA official.
Besides, there are several instances in which developers mount pressure on the flat owners to shell out undue amounts and delay the process of registration of the property, the official added.
Meanwhile, Ranchi district sub-registrar Shahdeo Mehra said that they would write to the RRDA to take due action as per the government directive.
"The RRDA may decide in favour of unilateral registration if the owner of the land where an apartment is built or the developer concerned does not come forward to register the flat in name of the purchaser," Mehra added.
Ranchi, Aug. 2: Telegraph