• Property has A Khata but no OC

I am planning to buy a A Khata resale Flat which was constructed on 2008 in Bangalore which falls under BBMP. The sellers have provided me all the legal documents expect the OC/CC. On asking them for OC/CC, they mentioned that none of the apartment owners possess the OC as they already have A Khata Certificates from the BBMP. Also they mentioned that when they themselves had approached the BBMP officials for OC's, the BBMP officials told that once they are issued with A - Khata Certificates, they no longer need the OC. And further more they told that this rule was brought recently into 2013 that OC is not required in case A-Khata cerificates are issued.

As far as I have heard, OC is one of the most mandatory documents while buying a resale property and has not been replaced or ammended over by any other document.
Can you please let me know if the above is true that I wont be needing OC in case I get the A-Khata cert.
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Asked 8 years ago in Property Law
Religion: Hindu

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5 Answers

1. OC is mere formality and absence of it does not hit the title of the property.

2. You can buy the property and alter strive to get the same like other similar flat owners.

3. A- Kahata is enough.

Devajyoti Barman
Advocate, Kolkata
22815 Answers
488 Consultations

5.0 on 5.0

1) OC is necessary to to certify that building has been completed as per sanctioned plans

2) we are not aware of any rule that when t A - Khata Certificates,is issued they no longer need the OC

3) file RTI application with BBMP as to whether in case of t A - Khata Certificates,building no OC is required

4)under Section 108-A (3)

The BBMP may levy and collect the property tax from every building, vacant land or both including a building constructed in violation of the provisions of building by-law or in an unauthorised layout or in a revenue land or from a building occupied without issuance of occupancy or completion certificate except the building constructed illegally in government land, land belonging to any local body, any statutory body or an organisation owned or controlled by the government.

The property tax collected from such building shall be maintained in a separate register.

Provided that levy and collection of property tax under this subsection from such building does not confer any right to regularise violation made, or title, ownership or legal status to such building, such buildings shall always be liable for any action for violation of law in accordance with the provisions of this Act or any other law.

Ajay Sethi
Advocate, Mumbai
94689 Answers
7526 Consultations

5.0 on 5.0

1. A Khata is a legal identification document containing all the details of a particular property for instance, the name of the owner, size of the building or plot, exact location and other such important particulars which helps in filing the property tax to the concerned authority.

A Khata is an important document required in case of a building license, trade license or to obtain any loan from the bank or any other financial institutions. Since all citizens owning a property in India must pay property tax, you are eligible to own a Khata,

2. Whereas OC is the certificate issued by the certifying that the building/flats has/have been constructed as per the sanction. It is to me noted that if a building/flat has not been constructed as per the sanctioned plan, the deviation is liable to be demolished by the sanctioning authority,

3. In your case, as per law, any deviation is liable to be demolished and no where it has been written that if the property has been recorded in A Khata, no OC will be required,

4. Visit the BBMP office to ascertain the fact and also the reason why it is refusing to issue the OC.

Krishna Kishore Ganguly
Advocate, Kolkata
27219 Answers
726 Consultations

5.0 on 5.0

The grant of Occupancy Certificate means the building has been constructed as per the approved plan which obliterates the risk of demolition and eviction by civic authorities. No person shall occupy or allow any other person to occupy any building or part of a building for any purpose until such building or part has been granted the occupancy certificate. At the time of mortgage the bank will ask for a valid OC. In case you want to sell the property, you may not get a good price if you do not possess a valid OC.

Ashish Davessar
Advocate, Jaipur
30763 Answers
972 Consultations

5.0 on 5.0

Recently, many revenue sites have been provided 'A Khata' by BBMP without being converted. However, this is against norms and some people manage to have received A Khata even though they had not undergone DC conversion. Further, the officials are issuing A khata by acceptiing bribe. These bribes are calculated based on the dimensions of the site.Note that any revenue land that need A khata should satisfy the following three conditions before being given 'A Khata'.

Sites should be DC converted

Property tax should have been paid till date.

Betterment charges of revenue charges should have been paid.

As per Section 5.7, of The Bangalore Building Bye-laws 2003

“No person shall occupy or allow any other person to occupy any new building or part of a new building for any purpose whatsoever until occupancy certificate to such buildings or part thereof has been granted by an officer authorised to give such certificate if in his opinion in every respect the building is completed according to the sanctioned plans and fit for the use for which it is erected. The Authority may in exceptional cases (after recording reasons) allow partial occupancy for different floors of a building.” Simply put, this means that the builder, on completion of the building, needs to apply to the statutory authority (BBMP/ BDA) for OC. If the building has been built as per the sanctioned plan, and fulfils the other legal requirements, the authority is supposed to issue the OC within 30 days. It is illegal for the builder to hand over the flats to the buyers without receiving the OC. It is illegal for the flats to be occupied / rented without the OC.

No Occupancy Certificate means that the building has not been given a “Pass Certificate”. This means that it does not have all the mandatory infrastructure/ clearances that make the building inhabitable. It is like you saying you have completed your degree but you do not have a Degree Certificate to show for it.

Without OC, the building is technically unfit for occupation and hence in the event that any accident takes place, the occupants / users of the building can hold no one liable and would not be eligible for any insurance or compensation claims. Water, sanitary and electricity connections, if already obtained, are liable to get disconnected. Presently, OC is not mandatory for registering the sale of flats in Bangalore.

BBMP is quite aware of hundreds of buildings without OC. Owners are paying property tax, but still, until they get the OC, they face the risk of losing the property. The main law is in place. A few policy changes will help eliminate building deviations and unscrupulous dealings and can make a huge difference to buyers of flats.

T Kalaiselvan
Advocate, Vellore
84890 Answers
2190 Consultations

5.0 on 5.0

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