Bhubaneswar: In order to streamline property registration and ease the financial pressure on homebuyers, the State Government has officially published the Indian Stamp Odisha Amendment Ordinance in the Odisha Gazette.
This development follows a recent Cabinet approval aimed at reforming the Indian Stamp Act, 1899, specifically to address long-standing hurdles in the apartment registration process while ensuring the steady collection of state revenue.
Officials noted that Additional Chief Secretary of Revenue and Disaster Management, Dr. Arabinda Kumar Padhee, played a pivotal role in spearheading these legislative changes. The reform is expected to accelerate the handover of common areas to resident associations and provide much-needed relief to the real estate sector in Odisha.
The core of the amendment addresses a major pain point introduced by the Odisha Apartment Ownership and Management Act, 2023. Under that Act, the entire common area and all facilities of a building project must be transferred to the Association of Allottees when the very first deed of conveyance is registered. Previously, this required the Association to pay a 5 percent stamp duty on the total value of these common areas. This upfront cost created a massive financial burden for associations and frequently stalled the entire registration process for new apartment complexes.
Under the newly notified rules, the Association of Allottees will now pay only a nominal stamp duty of 50,000 rupees for the deed of conveyance regarding common areas and facilities. The primary revenue collection has been shifted to the individual level. When an individual apartment unit is transferred, a 5 percent stamp duty will be collected. This duty will cover both the specific apartment unit and its undivided proportionate share in the common areas, ensuring that the government’s revenue interests remain protected without requiring a massive lump-sum payment from the association at the start.
Additionally, the amendment simplifies the duty structure for buyers. The previous system, which featured a sliding scale of 3 percent, 4 percent, and 5 percent based on various factors, has been replaced with a uniform stamp duty rate of 5 percent. This change is intended to bring clarity and consistency to the registration process for all apartment buyers across the state.