The government has decided to introduce a standard format for documents on property transactions including sale.
A major step by the Revenue Department towards bringing in reforms in property transactions, the standard will cover mortgage deeds and gift deeds. Implemented, it will usher in uniformity in the way such documents are drafted.
The front page (also called index sheet) of the sale deed or any other document of property transactions will be standardised, stipulating a format.
The front page will have a summary of the entire document with basic information about the property like its address, owner, encumbrance, if any, origin and the purchaser.
“The government has already given its approval to introduce the standard format. A committee headed by the Inspector-General of Registration and Commissioner of Stamps will be set up shortly to prepare the index sheet. We are planning to introduce the new format in about two months,” Revenue Secretary (UPOR and Bhoomi) Rajeev Chawla said.
Current status
Currently, there is no uniform format for drafting the documents. Usually, an advocate dealing in property matters prepares the draft on document sheets (previously stamp papers) by incorporating all available details about the property.
That the present owner is selling the property to the purchaser will be highlighted. Such documents are registered at the sub-registrar offices.
“The present sale deeds are difficult to understand. One has to rummage through the entire sale deed documents (which sometimes runs to more than 10 pages) to get some basic details of the property. This is because there is no uniform template for drafting it. Once the template is set, sale deeds and other property transaction documents will be simple and easy to understand,” Chawla pointed out.
It would also bring in transparency in property transactions. In the absence of a standard format, there is scope for not revealing important information about the property, with possibilities of the purchaser getting duped.
Uniform templates
As part of the long-term plan, the official said, the department was planning to introduce 10 standard templates for entire property transaction documents.
The Revenue department is also planning to develop a software wherein the mutation process, the process or property title being officially transferred to the purchase after the sale transaction, is completed automatically in the stipulated 30 days after the transaction.