London, Sep 20 (Inditop.com) Hundreds of Britons may lose their holiday homes in Goa after falling foul of changes in local laws and scams by builders and lawyers, a British newspaper reported Sunday.
The Sunday Times said British buyers had originally been told by local lawyers and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) that they could legally own property if they set up an Indian company and made the transaction through it.
But the rules appeared to have changed in Goa by 2007, it said, adding, the new interpretation of the law by Goan authorities has left hundreds of British expats without property deeds and facing large financial losses.
One Briton said that despite an RBI letter affirming that she had done everything legally, she was told by the local sub-registrar that he “couldn’t register our property as I was white and a foreigner”.
He told her they had received a circular from the Goa government stating that they were not to register property to Indian companies with foreign directors, or to foreigners at all.
Vikram Varma, a lawyer in Goa, said more than 1,000 people could have been caught out by changes in the laws and by builders’ scams.
More than 400 foreigners, mainly Britons, are being investigated by the enforcement directorate for alleged violations of property laws and could have homes confiscated, The Sunday Times reported.
They are allowed to live in the homes but, without deeds, cannot sell the properties.
“Most who come here are as trusting in the efficiency of the system in India as they are in the UK. But here it’s entirely different,” Varma told the paper.
The British Foreign Office said it had raised concerns with the Indian authorities, adding, “We have made clear that there should be no confiscation of property acquired legally by British nationals.”
