Registration Of Agreement To Sale – Ease Of Procedure For Promoters And Developers

The world shall never be the same again, thanks to the Novel Corona Virus (COVID-19) pandemic. The Real Estate Sector was already troubled due to slow down of economy in the year 2019 which has now worsened due to COVID-19 lockdown announced by the Government which lasted for more than 2 months. In addition to the lockdown, the migrant work force responsible for timely completion of the projects, has now went back to their home states, as reported in various main stream news reports. The entire situation looks uncertain. The lockdown not only stalled the ongoing projects, but also the registration offices were shut down as per the government orders.

Now with the Government announcing number of relaxations from 1^st of June, 2020, we cannot ignore the rising number of people infected with COVID-19. The stoppage of registration of documents since the first lockdown has not only caused inconvenience to the property purchasers but also greater hardship to the developers/promoters who have invested huge amount of money, time and efforts in the projects. As the offices of Sub Registrar of Assurances were closed and the registration of documents were stalled for a long time, when offices have re-opened, they are seeing huge rush for registration of the documents by public. Therefore in order to avoid these rush, delays and further spread of the COVID-19 and loss of revenue by the government, the Inspector General of Registration and Controller of Stamps, Maharashtra Government has issued a circular[1] dated 27^th April, 2020 bearing No. का.४/ई -रजिस्ट्रेशन/२०२० on its website http://igrmaharashtra.gov.in/giving a breather to the developers and promoters of projects who have certain minimum unsold units.

In this article, we bring this circular to the readers notice with the do’s for obtaining the e-registration permission from the IGR, Maharashtra.

Kindly note that the permission for the e-registration is applicable only for the registration of Agreement to Sale (hereinafter referred to as ‘ATS’)of units and no other documents.

This permission for e-registration shall enable a developer/promoter of the real estate project to register the Agreement to Sale of unsold units to be registered electronically at developer/promoter’s office or at the Purchaser’s home or anywhere else without the need of physically going to the office of Sub Registrar of Assurances. There are certain pre-conditions mentioned to be eligible for the issuance of this permission.

1. Minimum number of ATS required for issuance of e-registration permission (BASIC CRITERIA)-
   • For developer/promoter who is adopting standard RERA draft as per Real Estate (Regulation and Development)Act, 2016 (hereinafter referred to as RERA)for ATS- Min. 20 units should be available and whose ATS registration should be pending.
   • For other developer/promoter not adopting standard RERA draft for ATS (i.e. those who are adopting their own drafts)- Min. 50 units registration should be pending

2. Internet Connection required-
   • MPLS-VPN connectivity with all necessary securities (Circular has not specified as to what other necessary securities are)

3. What are other requirements-
   • HIGH SPEED INTERNET CONNECTIVITY
   • Computer (with good configuration)
   • Web camera
   • Thumb Scanner
   • Authorised signatory on behalf of Developer must have (valid) Digital Signature Certificate
   • In case Purchaser is not in a condition to visit office of developer, abovementioned instruments in Point (a) to (d) can be made available at any other place including his residence for completion of registration of ATS
4. Where can the developer apply for the e-registration permission:
   • The application duly filled with annexures to be submitted to the Joint District Registrar.

5. Document Handling Charges:-

Document handling charges for the registration of these ATS is fixed at Rs. 1000/- per document. Payment of the deposit mentioned herein below should be deposited by online transfer immediately within 3 days of grant of permission by the Joint District Registrar.

1. For developers adopting standard RERA draft for ATS- Rs. 10,000/-
2. For other developers not adopting standard RERA draft for ATS- Rs. 50,000/-

In case of this advance amount gets utilised, then additional amount can be paid as per number of documents. But in case the advance amount is not utilised, the same shall not be refunded.

6. Application format for obtaining e registration facility-

Application shall be submitted to the Joint District Registrar along with details as follows:

1. • Developers complete details with address, Email ID
   • Complete Project details
   • RERA number
   • of unregistered units
   • Whether the developer is willing to use standard RERA approved draft or his own draft (of ATS)
   • Ready reckoner rate applicable to the project with division (Vibhag) number and Rate per Sq.Mtr. for the unit.
   • Declaration as to Point No. (e) regarding use of format.
   • Name, designation, mobile number, email ID of contact person for e-registration facility.
   • Annexures to be listed with Application
   • Draft of Agreement for Sale
   • RERA registration certificate

• All documents to be annexed and forming part of ATS

1. Letter issued in favour of Authorised Person for filing of this application and for acting as contact person for the project to be submitted for e-registration facility/in case of company, board resolution/in case of partnership firm, No objection letter issued by all partners
2. Letter of Authority/ Power of Attorney/Board resolution or any other documents applicable to the person executing the document on behalf of the Developer
3. Self attested affidavit for the following- For the use of e-registration facility, all the information to be filled in (including filling in information, payment of stamp duty, capturing photos and thumb impression etc.) shall be carried out with utmost care, identification of purchasers shall be verified, all precautions shall be taken for the online facility of e-registration like OTP, User ID, Passwords etc.
4. How to file and where to file the Application for e-registartion permission:

Abovementioned application along with annexure can be filed in physical form to the respective Joint District Registrar or the same can be sent as scan copy digitally signed by the proposed Authorised Signatory through email ID of the proposed Authorised Signatory.

8. In any case the draft of ATS shall be emailed to the Joint District Registrar in word file format.
9. MOST IMPORTANT:

It may be noted that the developer must ensure that the person who shall be authorised to act on behalf of the developer, shall have a valid digital signature certificate (hereinafter referred to as ‘DSC’). If the person does not have a DSC, the same should be applied for in advance as this procedure shall consume at least 7 days. Therefore DSC should be applied in advance.

10. STAMP DUTY:-

For payment of stamp duty, the parties may choose online e-challan method or as the banks are working, the parties can pay stamp duty and obtain eSBTR.

11. WHEN CAN THE DEVELOPER APPLY?

Even though the circular does specify the date, it can be presumed that once the lock down the lifted by the Government order, the office of Joint District Registrar should start functioning. Therefore we can presume safely that we still have time to prepare for our application.

Considering the abovementioned changes, one can definitely take advantage of e-registration procedure, provided they meet the basic criteria mentioned hereinbefore. For the rest of the unsold units, the physical registration of agreements is already in process on as on today.

The article represents the personal views of the author.