Transfer of society flats put on hold

Ramkrishan Upadhyay

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, August 19

The Chandigarh Administration has put the transfer of flats of societies on hold, resulting in a lot of inconvenience to residents. Sources said the process had been suspended till the finalisation of the new transfer policy. The Registrar, Cooperative Societies, has been told not to issue no-objection certificates for transfer till the finalisation of the policy.

The sources said the decision was adversely affecting over 70 per cent members of societies who got their flats transferred after the UT announced a policy in 2009.

Thousands of people are living in over 10,000 flats of group housing societies in southern areas (Sector 48 to 51).

The flats have been constructed on land allotted by the Chandigarh Housing Board. Flats of societies have been sold many times over under the transfer policies notified by the Administration from time to time. The last transfer policy was announced in 2016.

Under the current procedure, the sale/purchase was allowed on the basis of a conveyance deed, which had to be executed on the payment of stamp duty at the prevailing collector rates and after getting a no-objection certificate from the society concerned. However, now the Administration is considering charging the stamp duty for all previous transfers.

An officer of the Administration said it would cause a huge financial loss to the government in case the transfer was allowed under the present policy.

The UT Administration had made the approval of the Registrar, Cooperative Societies, mandatory before registration by the Sub-Registrar’s office in the policy announced in 2016.

Devinder Gupta, president of the Universal Society, said the decision to put the transfer on hold was wrong. He said a huge amount of money had got stuck due to the decision. The Administration must announce the new policy soon, he said.