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Much of the over 100 laws governing various aspects of real
estate in India dates back to the 19th century and major amendments
to existing laws are required to make them relevant to modern day requirements.
The Central laws governing real estate include: omega watch replica
Registration Act, 1908
The purpose of this Act is the conservation of evidence, assurances, title,
publication of documents and prevention of fraud. It details the formalities
for registering an instrument. Instruments which it is mandatory to register
include:
(a) Instruments of gift of immovable property;
(b) other non-testamentary instruments which purport or operate to create,
declare, assign, limit or extinguish, whether in present or in future,
any right, title or interest, omega seamaster replica
whether vested or contingent, to or in immovable
property;
(c) non-testamentary instruments which acknowledge the receipt or payment
of any consideration on account of instruments in (2) above.
(d) leases of immovable property from year to year, or for any term exceeding
one year, or reserving a yearly rent
Sales, mortgages (other than by way of deposit
of title deeds) and exchanges of immovable property are required to be
registered by virtue of the Transfer of Property Act. Evidently, therefore,
all the above documents have to be in writing.
Section 17 of the Act provides for optional registration. An unregistered
document will not affect the property comprised in it, nor be received
as evidence of any transaction affecting such property (except as evidence
of a contract in a suit for specific performance or as evidence of part-performance
under the Transfer of Property Act or as collateral), unless it has been
registered. Thus the doctrine of part performance dealt with under Section
53 A of the Transfer of Property Act and the provision of Section 49 of
the Registration Act (which provide that an unregistered document cannot
be admissible as evidence in a court of law except as secondary evidence
under the Indian Evidence Act) together protect the buyer in possession
of an unregistered sale deed and cannot be dispossessed. The net effect
has been that a large number of property transactions have been accomplished
without proper registration. Further other instruments such as Agreement
to Sell, General Power of Attorney and Will have been indiscriminately
used to effect change of ownership.
Urban Land (Ceiling And Regulation) Act
(ULCRA), 1976
This legislation fixed a ceiling on the vacant urban land that a 'person'
in urban agglomerations can acquire and hold. A person is defined to include
an individual, a family, a firm, a company, or an association or body
of individuals, whether incorporated or not. This ceiling limit ranges
from 500-2,000 square meters (sq. m). Excess vacant land is either to
be surrendered to the Competent Authority appointed under the Act for
a small compensation, or to be developed by its holder only for specified
purposes. The Act provides for appropriate documents to show that the
provisions of this Act are not attracted or should be produced to the
Registering officer before registering instruments compulsorily registrable
under the Registration Act.
The objective of acquiring the excess vacant land could not be achieved
because of intrinsic deficiencies in the legislation itself.
This legislation was repealed by the Centre in 1999. The Repeal Act,
however, shall not affect the vesting of the vacant land, which has already
been taken possession by the State Government or any person duly authorised
by the State Government in this regard under the provisions of ULCRA.
The repeal of the Act, it is believed, has eliminated the large amount
of litigation and released huge chunks of land into the market. However
the repeal of the Act has not been carried out in all states. Initially
the repeal Act was applicable in Haryana, Punjab and all the Union Territories.
Subsequently, it has been adopted by the State Governments of Uttar Pradesh,
Gujarat, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan. Andhra Pradesh, Assam,
Bihar, Maharashtra, Orissa and West Bengal have not adopted the Repeal
Act so far.
Stamp Duty
There is a direct link between Registration Act and Stamp Act. Stamp duty
needs to be paid on all documents which are registered and the rate varies
from state to state. With stamp duty rates of 13 per cent in Delhi,
14.5 per cent in Uttar Pradesh and 12.5 per cent in Haryana, India has perhaps
one of the highest levels of stamp duty. Some states even have double stamp
incidence, first on land and then on its development. In contrast the maximum
rate levied in most developed markets whether in Singapore or Europe is
in the range of 1-2 per cent. Even the National Housing and Habitat Policy,
1998, recommended a stamp duty rate of 2-3 per cent. Most of the methods
to avoid registration are basically to avoid payment of high stamp duty.
Rent Control Act
Rent legislation in India has been in existence for a very
long time. Rent control by the government initially came as a temporary
measure to protect the exploitation of tenants by landlords after the Second
World War. However these rent control acts became almost a permanent feature.
Rent legislation provides payment of fair rent to landlords and protection
of tenants against eviction. Besides, it effectively allows the tenant to
alienate rented property.
Property Tax
Property tax is a levy charged by the municipal authorities for the upkeep
of basic civic services in the city. In India it is the owners of property
who are liable for the payment of municipal taxes whereas in countries
like the United Kingdom, the occupier is liable. Generally, the property
tax is levied on the basis of reasonable rent at which the property might
be let from year to year. The reasonable rent can be actual rent if it
is found to be fair and reasonable. In the case of un-let proper-ties,
the rental value is to be estimated on the basis of letting rates in the
locality.
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