New law will be formulated within next 3 months: CM
PANAJI
Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Thursday assured the Goa Legislative Assembly that the government will come up with an ordinance to resolve the long-pending issue of housing societies operating without proper title deeds amid suggestions from the legislators to follow the Maharashtra model.
He said a new law will be formulated within the next three months after three related departments examine the matter.
“The Law, Revenue and Cooperation departments will be asked to study the issue in the next three months. We will also be taking suggestions from MLAs.... the government will come up with an ordinance before the next Assembly session,” he said while replying to a Calling Attention motion by Aldona MLA Carlos Ferreira, who raised hardships faced by owners of premises in buildings and housing societies where conveyance deeds in favour of purchasers or societies were never executed prior to the implementation of the RERA Act, 2016.
During the discussion, Ferreira suggested Goa should adopt a mechanism similar to that of Maharashtra to help flat owners obtain clear titles. “Even a small provision would help resolve this issue. Without proper conveyance, these citizens are denied full ownership rights,” he said.
Margao MLA Digambar Kamat pointed out that many housing projects in recent years had neither formed cooperative societies nor completed sale deeds.
“In several buildings, only associations for maintenance have been formed. Builders have given only possession letters and agreement for sale. The actual sale deeds have not been executed, leaving residents without a title. The government should form a committee to examine different types of cases and guide affected people to come forward and file complaints,” Kamat said.
In a written reply, the Chief Minister admitted to the seriousness of the issue, stating that the Department of Cooperation had already taken cognizance of the problem.
“In order to expedite conveyance, show-cause notices were issued to all co-ownership and co-partnership housing societies to submit the conveyance deed executed in their favour. However, it was brought to the department’s notice that several challenges persist – including untraceable builders or landlords, death of the original landlord, and non-cooperation by stakeholders,” Sawant stated.
He further said the Revenue and Law Departments had already extended concessions in stamp duty and registration fees to help societies, but many were still unable to avail these benefits due to the complications involved.
Earlier, the government also announced an amnesty scheme for such societies. “Now, we are moving towards bringing in a specific legislation or scheme to comprehensively address the issue,” Sawant said.
