Builders can’t sell flat’s parking space separately

Mumbai: In a significant order, a consumer forum has ruled that a parking space that comes with a flat cannot be sold by the builder to a party that has not purchased the flat. The forum on Monday, directed Royal Palms (India) Pvt Ltd to pay a Juhubased couple Rs 5 lakh as compensation for not handing over a parking space along  with the flat the couple had purchased in a Goregaon complex in 2006.      "Handing over possession of the parking space along with the flat is binding on the developer," said the Mumbai Suburban District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum.      In the judgment, the forum pointed out to Section 36 of the Development Control Regulations, which states that for a four-wheeler the minimum size of a parking space should be 2.5m-by-5.5m. The regulations also have a chart that specifies the parking spaces to be allotted to flats according to their size and number.      "This proves that a parking space is a part of the flat and not a separate subject from the flat," the forum said. It added that just by handing over possession of the flat a developer cannot say an agreement has been completed.  ROOM & VROOM The consumer forum says:  Parking space is part of the flat and not separate subject from the flat  Developer is bound to hand over possession of parking space along with flat  Section 36 of Development Control Regulations says that for a four-wheeler, minimum size of parking space should be 2.5m x 5.5m Builder took 2 lakh for parking space, says couple  Mumbai: The Mumbai district consumer forum has said that the parking space reserved for a particular flat owner can't be sold by the builder to anyone else. "A developer cannot sell anything other than unsold flats in a building," said the Mumbai Suburban District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum. The forum on Monday directed Royal Palms (India) Pvt Ltd to pay a Juhu couple Rs 5 lakh as compensation for not handing over a parking space along with a flat the couple bought in a Goregaon complex in 2006.      According to the couple, Anita Gupta and Anand Gupta, they had purchased a 1,473-square-foot flat in the developer's project at Aarey Milk Colony in 2006. The Guptas paid Rs 57.07 lakh on May 30, 2006 for the flat, which was situated on the sixth floor of the building. The developer was to hand over possession of the flat before March 31, 2007. After the agreement was signed, the Guptas paid the full amount to the developer. On July 5, 2007, the developer asked the family to take possession of the flat to complete the furnishings and other minor work, which the Guptas did.      In the complaint filed before the consumer forum on November 21, 2008, the Guptas alleged that the developer did not hand over a covered parking space along with the flat. They also alleged that all the parking spots were sold to others. They added that they had paid around Rs 2 lakh for the space along with the flat amount, which the builder had accepted.      The developer contested the charges and alleged that the Guptas had filed a false complaint as they had to still pay some dues. The forum, however, observed that the amount due had no relation to the stilt parking. The forum observed that, in the reply to the complaint, the builder did not mention whether it had handed over the parking space to the Guptas. The forum further pointed out that the builder had only evasively stated it had not violated any terms and conditions of the agreement. The forum said it was obvious that the Guptas were not given the parking space. The forum held the developer guilty of deficiency in service.

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Flat buyers may have to pay 1% extra stamp duty

Mumbai: Property buyers in the city have something more to worry about. The state government plans to hike stamp duty by 1% and take it to 6% from October 1. 

    The stamp duty is currently computed at 5% within city limits. The revenue generated from this hike will be passed on to the BMC to support the latter's transition from octroi to the local body tax (LBT). 
    The surcharge of 1% on the value of a flat (irrespective of whether it's a sale or a gift) may sound paltry but in Mumbai, where a 2BHK in the distant suburbs may cost over Rs 1 crore, this difference will leave a big hole in the buyer's pocket. 
    "If this hike is accepted by the government, a buyer will have to shell out a total 10% in various taxes like value-added tax, service tax on the value of property. This is in addition to the high property tax proposed by the civic body. People will find it very difficult to buy a home,'' said advocate Anil Harish. 
    Senior civic officials sought to play down the proposal by saying a final decision would be taken after it receives a report from Mumbai University's economics department on what should be the rate of taxation and other sources of revenue. "The government, as per rules, has allowed municipal corporations like Nagpur, Pune and Navi Mumbai to hike stamp duty to boost its revenue. We are also considering doing so, although corporators and developers have requested us to increase either entertainment or development charges instead of stamp duty,'' said a senior civic official. BMC hopes for 1,200cr payoff from surcharge 
Mumbai: The proposed hike in stamp duty is some six months away, but the BMC however, does not want the government to collect the surcharge on its behalf. "It takes a lot of time before the government releases funds meant for us. We have therefore written to them to allow us to collect the surcharge directly,'' said the official. 
    To get an estimate of the revenue the proposed levy would generate, the country's richest civic body has asked the stamp duty and registration department to give details of the number of documents registered and amount collected from each zone per month. 
    The government has in 2010, 2011 and 2012 collected almost 65% of tax from the registration of immovable properties. The income from stamp duty during 2008-09 was Rs 8,384 crore, which increased by 30% to Rs 10,901 crore in 2009-10, then to Rs 13,411 crore in 2010-11 (23% increase) and toRs 14,800 crore in 2011-12 (10%). 
    The BMC, which has estimated a surplus of Rs 15 crore from the 2013-14 budget, hopes to generate over Rs 1,200 crore from this proposed surcharge. It had collected property tax bills aggregating Rs 3,657.1 crore in 2012-13, following the transition of the property tax system from ratable value to capital value-based system.

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