Why it's a long wait to register property in Gurugram

Why it’s a long wait to register property in Gurugram

GURUGRAM: Property registrations in the city have been moving at a snail’s pace despite the authorities adopting a fully online process to bring in transparency.

In September last year, the Haryana government had introduced a new software to register properties online. The decision was taken after a scam was unearthed at tehsil offices across the state in registration of properties during the lockdown. It was found that of 10,000 registrations done in the city then, 1,200 had been conducted in an illegal manner by local tehsildars in connivance with property dealers.

The scam prompted the government to ban all registries on July 22. No properties were registered in the state for 40 days, which led to a huge backlog. Registries resumed on August 31, but the entire system was made online. Though the move made the entire registration system more transparent, it also slowed down the process.

Property buyers in the city pointed out that the number of tokens being issued for appointments daily had been restricted to 100, just a third of what it used to be earlier. So, a buyer has to wait for at least two weeks to get an appointment after applying online.

And if there are discrepancies in the documents he or she has submitted, the waiting period increases by 15 days more. What has made matters worse is technical glitches in the software.

In the past one month, the problem has turned grave particularly at the Wazirabad tehsil, which caters to prime realty hubs, such as Golf Course Road. More than 50% of the city’s registrations are done here.

Applicants in Wazirabad said they had to wait at least 15 days to register their properties even after completing all paperwork and paying stamp duty. They pointed out that the 100 appointment tokens that were being issued daily were not just for registries, but also for lease and sale deeds, agreements, wills, gifts and power of attorney-related documents. Since there is no provision to make amendments to documents once a token has been issued, applicants have to wait for at least two weeks and take a fresh appointment.

Sources said that on an average, there were around 150-200 applicants waiting to register their properties daily.
Why it’s a long wait to register property in Gurugram“Earlier, there was no token system for registration of will or power of attorney. But now, there is,” said Ramesh Singla, president of Gurugram home developers and plot owners’ association. He added that the token system should be removed all the more because “these are emergency services”.

Sources said registrations were also getting stuck because of errors in the data of properties, such as a mismatch between the actual location and that on paper, mistakes in calculation of stamp duty, irregularities in the names of landowners and measurement of land, and pending taxes. They pointed out that the number of registrations at the Wazirabad tehsil had come down to 7,400 this year from 20,200 in 2019-20. But the 40-day ban and the lockdown should also be taken into account while considering this decline.

Deepak Sharma, a property buyer, said most were not willing to wait 15-20 days after applying for the registrations. “If there is any error in the application, the waiting period increases to one month. Unfortunately, the district administration and revenue department officials have turned a blind eye to the problems being faced by the buyers,” he added.

Rajesh Kumar, tehsildar of Wazirabad, said he had written to higher authorities in Chandigarh to resolve the issue. “We are hopeful the problems would be addressed soon,” he added.