Mumbai: Under pressure from high-profile housing societies belonging to serving/retired bureaucrats and police officers, the State government has reduced the fee levied on transfer and sale of flats in cooperative housing societies situated on leased government land.
As per the revised rates issued on Friday, in case of a transfer or sale of apartment before five years of the society formation, an amount equal to 3% of the transfer fee calculated as per the market rates will be charged. A 5% of the transfer fee will be levied on apartments falling in the post-five years category.
Earlier, an amount equal to two times of the transfer fee in case of the post-five years category and three times in case of the pre-five years category were levied. “We have received complaints from several societies that they are unable to afford the cost,” the government said in its revision on Friday.
Officials said the reduced rates will benefit societies mostly belonging to retired bureaucrats, police officers, and judges. Many of these are located in the posh areas of South Mumbai. Last year, several instances of illegal transfer of flats in such societies were brought to the government’s notice. Subsequently, the revenue department decided to regularise all illegal transfers through a notification issued in July, 2017.
The land ownership for most of these societies belongs to the Maharashtra government. But they have been either allotted on a lease basis or occupancy rights basis for the past several years.
Permissions are necessitated from the Collector to obtain the membership of such societies or when transfer, gift, sale of apartment takes place. But in the past, these were carried out without approvals.
“The idea of allowing the Collector to regularise such actions was to extend administrative approvals post facto. We have (government) generally been trying to do away with the permissions from the Collector in case of land and flat transfer in Mumbai,” a senior official said.
