If you are planning to buy a property in old co-operative housing societies, formed between 1982 and 2001, ahead of the auspicious Diwali, then the waiting period for sale deed registration at district registrar’s office in Ahmedabad varies between 15 days to one-and-a-half months.
This backlog arose because of a clarification that the state government had issued three months ago on the procedures to be followed for collection of stamp duty in case the property belonged to an old co-operative housing society.
The circular clarified that new owners will be required to first pay a stamp duty on the share certificates and allotment letter issued by the co-operative housing society, only after a thorough assessment of the shares and allotment letter is carried out by the registrar’s office. This has led to piling up of sale deed applications that were pertaining to old housing societies.
Sources claim that the state government had, one-and-a-half years ago, issued a circular for the first time directing its district offices to levy stamp duty on share certificates as well as allotment letters of old co-operative housing society and owners’ associations. “But the process of collection of stamp duty on share certificates was not clear. Various district offices were following their own processes,” says a senior revenue department official.
The issue dates to July 2021 when the stamp duty assessment office of Mehsana district sought guidance from the state government on whether to levy stamp duty on the registration of share certificates of housing societies.
“Two amendments were made in Article 20 of Schedule I of the Gujarat Co-operative Societies Act, 1961 and the Gujarat Stamp Act, 1958 , with effect from 27 April 1982, which said that transfer of shares of the co-operative housing should be registered and eligible for stamp duty,” says a senior revenue department official.
Advocate Prakash Shah, president of the Title Clear Association, said: “The owners of old co-opertaive housing societies are to apply before the collector, for which it takes a month for clearance.” Advocate Deepak Patel from Sola said: “Many will miss owning the property during the pre-Diwali murhut.”