From tomorrow, Aadhaar must for registration of property sale deeds

Sushil Manav

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, October 14

The Haryana Government is set to start Aadhaar card linking of registration of sale deeds of immovable properties from coming Monday.

Deputy commissioners have issued orders to the registering authorities in various districts that Aadhaar card will be necessary for the registration of sale deeds.

So far, Aadhaar is mandatory for the registration of sale deeds of immovable properties in Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Goa.

“I have issued directions that from Monday onward, the Aadhaar cards of the buyer, the seller and of two witnesses will have to be submitted to the authorities concerned for the registration of all sale deeds of immovable properties,” said Fatehabad Deputy Commissioner Hardeep Singh.

He said the system was being implemented throughout the state in a phased manner. Its aim is to curb benami deals in real estate and to stop frauds in property sale and purchase.

For Aadhaar card linking of sale deeds, the authorities will first link the property with the unique ID of the owner by using the biometric technique and then transfer it to the buyer by entering his unique ID and biometric details.

Suresh Agarwal, president of the Haryana State Property Dealers Welfare Association, however, opposed the move saying it was impractical and would hit the real estate business that is already witnessing a slump.

“NRIs, corporate houses, business firms, trusts and societies also purchase properties. If Aadhaar card is made mandatory, they will not be able to buy properties,” Agarwal said.

Vijayendra Kumar, Secretary, General Administration, Revenue and Disaster Management Departments, said the Aadhaar card linking was consent based.

“If one does not wish to give consent, one can show other documents which we have allowed (Passport issued by the Government of India or electoral photo identity card or PAN card issued by the Income Tax Department with photograph or any photo identity card issued by the Government of India or state government or heads of government offices to their serving employees. But all documents should be within the expiry date,” Vijayendra said.

“Hence, from Monday we shall seek Aadhaar card, if one consents, we shall do eKYC and register the deed. If one does not have an Aadhaar card but has the temporary Aadhaar number (28 digit Aadhaar enrolment ID, the EID) we shall record the EID and register the deed. If one has neither Aadhaar card nor the EID, one should go to the nearest such facility, make a request for Aadhaar card and show us the acknowledgement of such application and we shall register his document by recording the acknowledgement number (but later, when one does get the Aadhaar card, he has to come and get himself eKYC verified,” he added.