Mumbai, Oct 2 (IANS) Consumers here Tuesday welcomed the state government’s move to remove the requirement of an NOC from builders before a person could sell or transfer property in the state.
In an important decision, Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan Monday announced that it will no longer be mandatory for any flat owners and housing society residents to secure the ‘no objection certificate (NOC)’ from the builders before selling, re-selling or transferring their property.
“There is no such provision in the Maharashtra Ownership of Flats Act. So, there is no need for flat owners to seek NOC from builders before sale, re-sale or transfer,” Chavan said in a statement.
The Mumbai Grahak Panchayat (MGP) has lauded the move, saying it will stop “undue harassment” of consumers by the powerful lobby of builders and developers, especially in big cities like Mumbai, Thane, Pune, Aurangabad and Nagpur.
“Until now, flat transactions were getting unnecessarily delayed for months on end by the insistence of NOC, causing hardships to the flat sellers and buyers,” MGP chairman and consumerism expert, Shirish Deshpande, told IANS.
An office-bearer of a mega housing society in north-west Mumbai, V. Singh said that even after the society cleared the transactions by members, the sale and transfers were getting delayed as builders insisted on NOCs.
“In many instances, there were demands from the builders for extra cash from the prospective buyer and hurdles were also created in government offices without the NOC,” Singh said.
“All this will now stop and transactions will be quicker and smoother, without builders making a quick buck on the side,” he pointed out.
While announcing the decision, Chavan said, “Such illegal activities of pressurizing flat owners to seek NOC must be stopped.”
The chief minister said he had received many complaints of harassment from flat owners who were prevented from selling, re-selling or transferring their properties without getting the builders’ NOC.
Chavan said that after the buildings were constructed, formation of cooperative housing society, conveyance deed, transferring of the land were also getting delayed as builders demanded extra money.
The government has urged flat owners to inform the departments of any such instances of builders or government officers demanding NOCs. And those awaiting conveyance deeds have been asked to contact the district administration for the purpose.
