Kochi: Many flat owners in the soon-to-be-demolished apartments in Maradu municipality in Kerala's Ernakulam district may face difficulties in receiving the compensation as they have not completed the registration formalities so far.
The Supreme Court recently ordered to pay an interim compensation of Rs 25 lakh to the owners of the illegally-constructed Alpha Serene, Holy Faith H2O, Golden Kayaloram and Jain Coral Cove flats.
A preliminary assessment by the Maradu municipality has found that only about 130 flats in the four complexes have registered owners – meaning they have completed the registration procedure called 'transfer of registry' (jamamattom).
Registration process is complete with the 'transfer of registry', which establishes a person as the owner of a property in the records of the local administrative body.
The four flat complexes have 343 housing units. It is not clear whether the remaining 213 flat owners have registered the property in their names. "They might have done document registration. However, they haven't changed the name of ownership in the municipality records. As of now the municipality doesn't have any record to prove that they are the owners," a municipal official told Onmanorama.
The official added that the flat owners who have registered the apartments in their name but could not complete the 'transfer of registry' need not worry as they can raise the issue before the expert committee appointed by the Supreme Court to assess the damages of the demolition.
Shamsudheen Karunagappally, chairman of the Maradu Bhavana Samrakshana Samiti, said those who have registered the property in their name will not face any difficulty in getting the compensation. "They only have to fulfil the registration procedure. They do not have to worry if they have registration deed and other documents," he said.
Asked about reports that some flats are registered in the name of the builders, Shamsudheen said in such cases there would be some complication.
"There could also be some people who may not have understood the importance of fulfilling such procedures on time," he said.
Beyoj Chennatt, who owns a flat in Holy Faith H2O apartments, said all the flats in the complexes are registered in the owners' name. He said there are a few people who have not conducted transfer of registry so far. "Several people have applied for the procedure in the past two-three days," he said.
Why no transfer of registry?
Non-compliance with transfer of registry could occur due to various reasons, including planned attempt to evade property registration fees. One such scenario is where the builders transfer flats to their close relatives without registering the properties in their names.
Real estate players who buy flats with the aim of reselling it for a higher profit also avoid registering the property in their name to evade registration fees, said a revenue official. Normally they do such purchases as per an agreement with the builders. When they find a new buyer for the property, they transfer it to the latter's name from the builder's name. People who had invested in such flats would be in real trouble now.
Even though the builders can claim the compensation from the government for the flats in their names, they would not be paid the money as their accounts have been frozen as per the Supreme Court's order.
Residents of the four flat complexes vacated their flats recently after it became clear that the state government has no other option than complying with the Supreme Court order.
The apex court had, on September 6, ordered demolition of the complex by September 20 for violating the Coastal Regulation Zone rules. The Supreme Court had asked to set up a three-member committee, headed by retired Kerala High Court judge K. Balakrishnan Nair, to oversee compensation distribution and the steps for demolition.
