Bhubaneswar, Jan 9: In a major relief to apartment owners and housing associations, the Odisha Cabinet has approved an amendment to streamline the registration of common areas and facilities under the Odisha Apartment (Ownership and Management) Act, 2023.

The Act mandates that the entire Common Areas and Facilities of an apartment complex must be transferred in favour of the Association of Allottees at the time of registration of the first deed of conveyance. However, under the earlier provision, the Association of Allottees was required to pay a hefty 5 per cent stamp duty for execution of the deed of conveyance. This resulted in a substantial financial burden on apartment owners and created hurdles in the apartment registration process.

To address this issue and simplify the procedure, the State Government has inserted a new Clause-D under Article-23 of Schedule-I-A of the Indian Stamp Act, 1899. With this amendment, the Association of Allottees will now be required to pay only a nominal stamp duty of ₹50,000 for registration of the common areas and facilities.

The government clarified that the stamp duty structure for individual apartment units will remain unchanged. At the time of transfer of an individual apartment, a 5 per cent stamp duty will be collected on the value of the individual unit along with its undivided proportionate share in the common areas and facilities during execution of individual deeds of conveyance in favour of the allottees.