Government to Approve Property Cards for Flats Registered Under MahaRERA

In order to regularise, streamline and make transparent the process of owning a property in Maharashtra, the government has come up with a new solution known as Malmatta Patrak or Property Card. Malmatta Patrak or Property cards are electronic cards with 16 MB of memory that will identify the true owner of the property, all land details such as acre age, survey and plot number and the district, taluka or village. It will clearly list the liabilities and litigations as well to mitigate all concerns. It will include the signatures of both parties between whom the transfer will take place. It will help to prevent encroachment on the property. The Malmatta Patrak aims to decrease the paperwork that is involved in the sale of a property and thus a reduction in processing times. All bank loan information can also be found on this card as well as the 7/12 extracts. Property Cards for urban properties will clearly display all the transactions that have taken place over the piece of property in question and hence minimise opportunities for forgery, record tampering and misuse of property. The history of the property and its owners becomes transparent at the click of a button. A Property Card will also be a crucial document during judicial inquiries into property cases.

As of today, if you are looking to buy a luxury home in Mumbai or even a vacation villa on a hill station, the only way you can obtain any of the above information is if you made multiple trips to the land records office, fill out applications for the same and pay the costs. This process can take days and hence there was a need to eliminate this procedure and make things easier. Keeping up with the digital revolution, the Maharashtra Government formed a committee to introduce the Property Cards to register all types of real estate under the MahaRERA. All new developments in Mumbai should have these Property cards after the implementation of the scheme.

Although the discussions are yet in their final stages and approvals for the draft are pending, by July 2023, it should become a welcomed reality. After great deliberation over suggestions and objections, a final draft is now pending approval with the government. This draft will cover all apartments also known as vertical properties that are registered under the Maharashtra Real Estate Regulatory Authority or MahaRERA. It suggests that post implementation of the new rule under the Maharashtra Land Revenue Code, Record of Rights and Registers for Apartments and Buildings Rules under the Maharashtra Land Revenue Code, 1966; the state will issue property cards for urban areas and 7/12 extracts for rural areas and these two will become the principal documents of ownership.

One of the greatest deterrents for investors in real estate was the red tape and paper pushing that surrounded land records and registration. With the digitization of the same, this too invites financial interest from the world over. New projects in Mumbai as well as all over Maharashtra will definitely benefit from this government initiative.

To summarise, the main details that you will find on a Property card are:

Landowner Name and changes in the ownership title, (if any)
Geographical location
City-issued survey number and plot ID
Area in square metres
Record of liabilities and encumbrances
Loans obtained from government-sponsored institutions
Litigations and ongoing legal proceedings
Taxes imposed (paid and unpaid)