Odisha Govt To Streamline Registration Of Common Areas In Apartments

Bhubaneswar: In a significant development, the Odisha government has announced several measures, including steps to streamline registration of common areas in apartments and preparation of modalities for registration of pre-RERA projects to protect the interest of home buyers.

Sources said the move aims at safeguarding the interests of homebuyers as per norms of the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act 2016 and Odisha Apartment (Ownership and Management) Act, 2023.

The move was revealed after a meeting of the stakeholders chaired by Housing and Urban Development Principal Secretary Usha Padhee to identify challenges in implementation of the new Odisha Apartment Ownership Act.

In view of the prescribed norms for registration and handing over of possession of the apartment and the common area in favour of home buyers under the law, the registration fee and stamp duty will be charged in a way that the same are not taken twice for the same space, officials said.

Stating that bifurcation of cost will be provided in the agreement of sale for the calculation of the cost of the apartment and common areas, they said ORERA authorities will issue instruction to all stakeholders concerned to clearly indicate the bifurcated cost of common areas and cost of apartment in the agreement for sale.

If no such bifurcation has been made during registration of the deed, they will annex an additional schedule indicating the cost of the apartment concerned; cost of the common areas appurtenant to the apartment; cost of the project; and cost of the entire common area to facilitate appropriate calculation of the registration fees and stamp duty.

All the competent authorities will issue a Certificate of Registration of Association in favour of the associations covered under the provisions of Apartment Ownership Act.

A proposal will be given to the Revenue department regarding adoption of the model devised by Chhattisgarh government towards collection of a nominal registration fee and stamp duty on registration of the common areas, officials said. A consultative meeting will also be held soon to finalise the modalities for pre-RERA apartments to pave way for their registration, officials said.

Another consultative meeting will also be held soon to finalise the modalities for pre-RERA apartments to pave the way for their registration, sources said.