DDA will maintain property records for a nominal fee

Owners of freehold properties in Delhi will soon be able to maintain their records with the Delhi Development Authority.

The authority generally stops keeping ownership records of properties once they are converted from leasehold to freehold.

This ‘obligatory’ service being offered by the DDA would simplify the sale and purchase process of properties because it would prevent any buyer from running pillar to post in registrar offices for checking property records, sources said.

Property owners can avail of this facility, which will be launched soon, by paying a onetime nominal fee.

“In prevailing circumstances, people at times have to pay thousands of rupees to touts in the registrar offices just to verify the title of any property, besides getting a hand on entire trail when the property changed hands. With this facility, the owner will be able to maintain the progeny of property in de-materialized form. Anybody willing to check the property records can get it verified with the DDA,” a senior DDA official said.

As per plans, under the scheme, the entire trail of property record — from the original owner to the last disposer — will be maintained.

“The fact that the DDA has the records of any property will make it more lucrative when the owner wants to sale it because it will prevent the buyer from being harassed in verifying the records,” an official said.

The initiative is part of the digitization process of the landowning agency. With the role and challenges of the agency changing, the agency is undergoing complete overhaul -- both internally and the way it deals with the city residents.

Besides the record-keeping facility, DDA is planning to come up with mobile applications to bring transparency in functioning and crowd-sourcing feedbacks from residents.

Hindustan Times, New Delhi, 12th Sept. 2015