In a move that will spell relief for thousands of house owners in the Capital who could not sell their Delhi Development Authority flats for want of a freehold certificate, the Union Ministry of Urban Development has announced a relaxation in rules pertaining to sale of property purchased on general power of attorney.
As per the revised policy, holders of General Power of Attorney (GPA) and Agreement to Sell (AS), who have a registered GPA and AS between September 24, 2001, and October 11, 2011, will be entitled to apply for conversion to freehold after paying a surcharge in addition to conversion charges that will be applicable on the date of making their application.
According to a senior DDA official, the relaxation of norms has been announced based on feedback from property owners. “There were many house owners who had sold their property using a GPA, but after 1992 when flats were allotted on freehold basis, these owners faced a problem because they had sold off their properties without getting them converted to freehold first and the sale of such property was not considered legal. The relaxation in norms will help such cases,” he said.
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Flats which were initially allotted on hire/purchase basis from April 1992 to October 2011 will be allowed conversion to freehold on GPA, AS basis on payment of a surcharge of 66.5% in addition to conversion charges as applicable on the date of application.
“However, unregistered GPA and AS holders will be allowed conversion only up to September 24, 2001, subject to clearance of all outstanding dues such as instalments, interest, etc. Thereafter the applicant will have to give registered GPA, AS for conversion,” said the Ministry.
In the case of DDA built-up flats, before the policy of conversion was announced in 1992, flats were sold and resold on Power of Attorney and Agreement to Sell basis. With the announcement of the policy of conversion from leasehold to freehold in 1992, all such transactions were legalised through the process of conversion and all GPA as well as Agreement to Sell, even if unregistered, were honoured. As per Delhi Government notification, registration of GPA and Agreement to Sell became mandatory in 2001 and conversion, wherein Power of Attorney and Agreement to Sell were registered, was being honoured.
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The scheme will come into effect immediately. Brochures containing terms and conditions and format of documents to be submitted are available at the sales counter of DDA’s office in Vikas Sadan.