Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government has brought into force a new law to protect ownership of an individual apartment in a building with an undivided interest in common areas and facilities. Governor Ganeshi Lal recently promulgated an ordinance for the purpose.
The Odisha Apartment (Ownership and Management) Ordinance, 2023, which repeals the Orissa Apartment Ownership Act, 1982, aims to resolve issues faced by apartment owners and make local housing laws compliant with the Real Estate (Development and Regulation) Act 2016.
According to a gazette notification issued recently, the Ordinance would extends to the whole of Odisha and would be applicable to all apartments or buildings converted into apartments on freehold land or on leasehold land if the lease for such land is for a period of thirty years or more.
It further said that all apartments used or proposed to be used for residence, office, practice of any profession or for carrying on any occupation, trade or business or for any other type of independent would be be governed by the provisions of this Ordinance.
“Every person to whom any apartment is allotted, sold or otherwise transferred by the Promoter, whether before or after commencement of this Ordinance, shall, subject to the other provisions of this Ordinance, be entitled to the exclusive ownership and possession of his apartment, and be entitled to such undivided interest in the common areas and facilities as may be specified in the deed of transfer of apartment and such undivided interest shall be computed by taking, as a basis, the built up area of the apartment in relation to the built-up areas of all the apartments in the building.”
“An apartment together with its undivided interest in common areas and facilities appurtenant to such apartment shall be heritable and transferable immovable property within the meaning of any law for the time being in force and accordingly an apartment owner may transfer his apartment and undivided interest in the common area and facilities appurtenant to such apartment by way of sale, mortgage, lease, gift, exchange or in any other manner what so ever in the same manner, to the same extent and subject to the same rights, privileges, obligations, liabilities, investigations, legal proceedings, remedies and to penalty, forfeiture and punishment as any other immovable property or may make a bequest of the same under the laws applicable to the transfer and succession of immovable property, provided that no apartment and undivided interest in common areas and facilities appurtenant to such apartment shall be partitioned or sub-divided for any purpose whatsoever and any covenant to the contrary shall be void.”
The provision of the ordinance, however, will not be applicable to a building used as the office of a government department or undertaking or in cases where the building is owned and used by the owner himself or for letting it out to others.
The state is believed to be the first to facilitate the formation of an ‘association of allottees’ – a body that will administer the affairs of the apartment project or property including the common areas and facilities in accordance with the provision of the ordinance. The association has to be formed immediately after booking of seven or 50 per cent of the apartments, whichever is lower. “The promoter shall be considered as one member of the association and shall have one voting right irrespective of the number of unsold apartments in its possession and shall cease to be member of the association as and when it is not in possession and has transferred all the apartments in the project.”
Similarly, an allottee will cease to be a member of the association if the allottment letter is cancelled by the promoter at any point before the execution of the deed of transfer.
The common areas of the apartment, entire land, staircases and play areas will be registered in the name of such associations. “Any benefit of additional built–up area relevant to the apartment due to change in Development Control Norms or any other reason as the case may be, shall be passed on to the association of allottees,” it said.
The promoter has to submit a declaration to the Competent Authority in respect of the building, whether constructed before or after the commencement of this Ordinance, within 30 days of issue of Occupancy Certificate.
Each allotee or apartment owner, as the case may be, has to comply strictly with the bye-laws and with the covenants, conditions and restrictions set forth in the Deed of Transfer of Apartment and failure to comply with any of them shall be a ground for action to recover sums due for damages, or for injunctive relief, or both, by the association of allotees, or in a proper case, by an aggrieved apartment owner, it added.
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