Registration of hutments stuns Maharashtra!

Owing to the flaw in the government’s online portal, even the leave and licence agreements of hutments could be registered. Representation Pic

Leave and licence agreements of hutments and table spaces registered on the government's online portal have surprised officials of the registration department. Several instances of alleged misuse of the facility for online registration of leave and licence agreements have occurred owing to a flawed format on the portal and a lack of accountability. Almost two years after the state government opened the online registration of leave and licence agreements to the public, senior registration department officials are concerned by the legal ramifications of the misuse of the facility.

Besides the loss of revenue to the state exchequer by undervaluing the rent and deposit, a registered document becomes a legitimate proof of address for obtaining any identity cards or licenses issued by the government. The registered document may also be used for the purpose of Income tax evasion. Senior officials of the registration department have come across leave and license agreements for hutments and tablespaces, which are in violation of Indian Registration Act 1908.

As of now the public may register the leave and license document either at the sub-registrar's office in person or on the online portal. When registering leave and license agreement at the sub-registrar's office, the proof of ownership of the property, i.e. Index 2 of the sale deed or no-objection certificate from the cooperative housing society or the share certificate has to be mandatorily submitted by the owner who is referred as the licensor. Besides, personal identification documents like Aadhaar, PAN Card and photograph of both the licensor and licensee, with the leave and license document have to be submitted to the sub-registrar at the time of registration.

The above mandatory requirements have been done away with now on the online portal. Prior to the online portal for registration being given access to the public, registrations of leave and license agreements were also facilitated through licensed Authorised Service Providers (ASP). The ASP acted as a contact point between the department and the public, said a department official. In the absence of licensed ASP, the portal has now become free-for-all without zero accountability.

However, the online registration portal for leave and license agreement has a readymade template with restricted word counts for the empty fields. The portal has no provisions for uploading ownership proof of the licensor. Thus the department remains clueless if the licensor is the owner of the property or not, said an official. Moreover, electricity bills or piped gas bills are mere occupancy proof and not ownership proof, and therefore a leave and license agreement cannot be registered merely on the proof of occupancy.

This anomaly came to light when the department's backend staff scrutinised the uploaded documents of registered leave and license agreements. The records were scrutinised as there was a tremendous increase in online registration of leave and license documents. Scrutiny of the records revealed the frivolous manner in which documents were registered on the portal.

Citing an example, the officer said an office space of 50 sq feet each has been sublet to four companies in the Western suburbs by the owner of the property. The officer said this was in violation of the Indian Registration Act and Maharashtra Stamp Act, as a single unit cannot be further sublet in parts.

"Moreover, we have no documents to establish that the person named as the owner is the actual owner of the property, as no supporting ownership documents are available online. As the law considers a single commercial unit or flat, as a whole for letting out and does not allow multiple subletting of the same property, thereby increasing the risk of the registered document being misused," said the officer.

Notice issued

The officer said, "Usually we respond online, calling in for a hearing of the parties along with supporting documents, wherever such discrepancies are identified. In such cases, we often do not get any response from the parties and the file remains disputed. It is high time that some measures are taken by the department to ensure that ownership proof is mandated for online registration of leave and licence agreements. The flaws on the portal need to be fixed and thus prevent the misuse of the registered document as proof of address. Moreover, the portal's access should be restricted to authorised service providers, who can be held accountable." Though the department alerted the higher authorities, nothing has been done to stem the rot.

The other side

Hiralal Sonawane, chief controller of stamps and inspector general of registration said, "If you have any such documents, you can show the same to our additional controller of stamps, Mumbai and he will look into the same."