Bawankule Directs Officials to Form SOP on NA Tax and Conveyance for Housing Societies
Maharashtra Housing Self/Redevelopment Authority Chairman and BJP MLA Pravin Darekar urged Revenue Minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule during a meeting at Mantralaya in Mumbai to halt the wrongful recovery of non-agricultural (NA) tax from cooperative housing societies and establish a mechanism to refund amounts already collected.
Following the discussion on issues faced by cooperative housing societies undertaking self-redevelopment, Bawankule directed officials to formulate a clear standard operating procedure (SOP) to address the matter. MLA Sanjay Kelkar and senior department officials were also present at the meeting.
Darekar stated that although registered cooperative housing societies possess an independent legal identity, they frequently face delays and unnecessary expenditure by having to approach revenue offices repeatedly after obtaining conveyance. He proposed introducing a uniform procedure wherein the registering authority electronically forwards the registered conveyance deed directly to the concerned revenue office.
Under this proposed system, the revenue office would record the society's name on the property card or 7/12 extract and provide updated documents online. Darekar called for a government resolution specifying that separate hearings by revenue authorities should not be required once an order granting deemed conveyance has been issued, alongside strict action against officials failing to follow guidelines.
He further demanded that society ownership be clearly reflected in revenue records rather than being listed under the 'other rights' column, and sought a fixed time limit for recording names on property cards along with an online mutation process. Darekar also noted that disputes between the jurisdictions of the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA) and the Revenue Department need resolution.
Regarding Urban Land Ceiling (ULC) reserved flats, Darekar urged the state government to issue a single Government Resolution covering their status, ownership, use, and transfer, rather than relying on multiple notifications. He noted that disputes over reserved flats often stall entire redevelopment projects and suggested appointing a nodal officer across the Revenue, Housing, Urban Development, and MHADA departments, while launching a special drive to resolve pending ULC cases.
