NOIDA: The stamp and registry department has issued notices to 66 developers for giving possession of flats to buyers without registering them. They have also been warned of legal action if the registries are not done within a month.

Officials said completion and occupancy certificates for over 23,000 flats had been issued to these developers. But none of these flats are registered yet.

The district magistrate will meet the developers and representatives of the Noida Authority on June 16 to discuss reasons behind the handover of flats.

BS Verma, assistant inspector-general (registration), said a recent survey had found that the Authority had issued OCs to over 23,000 flats.

“The survey also found that these developers had not completed the registration process. So, we issued notices to 66 developers and asked them to register the flats within a month, failing which we will initiate action,” Verma said.

The move, he said, aims at checking losses to government revenue and ensuring that flat owners have property rights.

Verma said that at the June 16 meeting, the developers would be asked if there were any hurdles in the the registration process.

“There are a number of homebuyers who told us they had cleared their dues but were yet to get their flats registered. We want to ensure these buyers have a title of the properties in their names. The DM will discuss the issue with the developers and expedite the process of flat registrations,” he added.

The stamp and registration department is also raising awareness among buyers to get their flats registered. 

PPS Nagar, a lawyer who deals in realty cases, said the registration of properties often gets delayed due to the lack of OCs or CCs. “If developers violate building bylaws during construction or fail to clear dues to the authorities, their OCs/CCs are withheld. So, they cannot execute the registry of properties,” he added.

In some cases, said Nagar, developers sit on the registration of flats even after the OCs/CCs are issued. “The developers do not submit details of the original or first homebuyers with the authorities. Sometimes, these buyers resell their properties to the same developer or other individual. In such cases, the builders internally change the buyers’ names on paper. If the developers facilitated registration of properties, they would have to pay fees to the government twice,” he said.

Ravindra Jaiswal, the stamp and registration minister, also held a review meeting with the department officials on Tuesday and directed them to expedite the registration of flats.

In Noida, the department registered over 1.4 lakh properties in the financial year 2022-23 against 1.2 lakh in the previous year. The government also collected Rs 3,018 crore in registration fees this year against Rs 2,377 crore in the previous financial year.