Greater Noida Authority has made stamp duty mandatory for flat booking. Builders and buyers have objected to this because the refund of stamp duty in case of cancellation of booking is not clear.
Greater Noida Authority has made a big change in the process of flat booking and has now made stamp duty mandatory. Now while booking a flat in any new housing project, its registration will have to be done and stamp duty will have to be paid. Earlier, the registration of the flat was done after the completion of the project. However, builders have not liked this new rule. They say that nothing has been told about how the stamp duty paid on cancellation of booking will be refunded.
Under the new rule, the builder will now have to register an ‘Agreement to Sell’ with the buyer after receiving 10% payment of the total price of the flat and will have to pay stamp duty as per the value of the flat. At the time of handover of the flat, the ‘Possession Deed’ will be signed on a stamp paper of ₹100. The authority says that this rule will benefit the flat buyers and the problem of flat transfer without registration will stop. Stamp duty is usually 6% to 7% of the total price of the flat.
Builders raise questions
According to a report in Times of India, builders are not happy with the payment of stamp duty at the time of booking. CREDAI NCR President Manoj Gaur says that this system is impractical because there is no clarity on the refund of stamp duty in case of booking cancellation. About 25 percent of bookings get cancelled due to various reasons. In such a situation, buyers may have to suffer huge losses.
Nikhil Hawelia, MD of Hawelia Group, said that this rule can be a challenge for NRI buyers, as they cannot come to India for initial registration. This will affect their investment and the pace of the real estate sector may slow down .
Buyers think the decision is unjust.
Abhishek Kumar, president of Noida Extension Flat Owner Welfare Association, termed the decision as one-sided and said, “When there is no guarantee of possession, it is wrong to take the entire stamp duty from buyers. This will only increase their financial burden. It would have been better if an ‘Agreement to Lease’ was done on 10% payment.” He said that such decisions should not be taken in a hurry, because it directly affects the general public.
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