The Odisha government issued an important circular with the aim of providing relief to homebuyers looking to buy or sell flats built prior to February 25, 2017, in the state. The government has directed its officers to proceed with the registration of sales and transfer deeds for flats constructed before February 25, 2017. This was necessitated since homebuyers could not register sale deeds and transfer deeds for flats constructed before February 25, 2017. The action was a result of a misinterpretation of the Odisha Apartment (Ownership and Management) Act, 2023 (OAOM), by the registry officers in Odisha.
Read below to know how this new notification can help you register the sale or transfer deed if it was previously rejected due to the OAOM Act interpretation issue.
How did the Odisha government remove the pain point for homebuyers?
The Odisha Housing and Urban Development Department in a notification dated February 1, 2025, said:
● “It has come to notice that apartment owners are facing difficulties in registering sale deeds and transfer deeds due to perceived ambiguities in the application of the Act.
● There is a misconception that the OAOM Act has a retrospective effect, leading to inconsistencies in the registration process.
● Registration officers are reportedly interpreting the provisions of the OAOM Act and RERA differently, causing disparities in decision-making across cases.
● Without prejudice to any existing Acts and Rules, it is hereby clarified that registration authorities shall not deny the registration of any apartment citing provisions of the OAOM Act if the apartment was completed before the commencement of RERA in the state, i.e,. prior to 25th February 2017.”The Odisha Apartment (Ownership and Management) Act 2023, which came into force on June 28, 2023, was enacted to consolidate and streamline laws related to apartment ownership and management. The RERA Act 2016 was implemented in Odisha on February 25, 2017. Both Acts serve a similar objective: the protection of homebuyers; however, they were enacted for different purposes.The objectives of the OAOM Act and RERA are similar but not the same. “Given that common areas and facilities in a building are integral to any apartment, the Act aligns their ownership and management with the provisions of the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016 (RERA). One of the major objectives of the OAOM Act is to safeguard the interests of allottees by ensuring appropriate rights over common areas and facilities,” said the Odisha Housing and Urban Development Department.
Harsh Khabar, Advocate at the Delhi High Court, noted that after the enactment of the Odisha Apartment (Ownership and Management) Act 2023, homebuyers faced certain difficulties. Below are the listed problems:
- The provisions of this Act (OAOM) were interpreted to be different than the provisions of the RERA
- It was also wrongly construed that the Act has come into effect retrospectively
- The aforementioned wrongful interpretations led to problems in decision-making regarding the registration of apartments.
- The Act primarily regulates apartments and does not have regulations relating to other real estate issues.
- The new law requires obtaining occupancy certificates (OCs) before forming any association of allottees or registering sale deeds. However, many older buildings do not have OCs due to previous regulatory gaps and lack of awareness among developers and buyers.
“The Odisha Apartment (Ownership and Management) Act, 2023, which refers to the RERA Act, 2016 has streamed line several issues regarding sale of apartments. The act suggests strict norms to be followed regarding project common areas, disclosures and formats. Prior to the RERA coming into force, the requirements were not streamlined, hence the standards were different. Due to the fact that the pre-RERA documents were different, registrations were becoming a challenge. It seems there were some ambiguities on the application of the act, and it was perceived to be retrospective,” says Avikshit Moral, Partner, S&R Associates.
What might be the impact of this new development?
We have asked various experts, and here’s what they said:
Pre-RERA apartment buying and selling transactions in Odisha will now get easier
Khabar says, after the above notification by the Odisha government, the problems relating to the ambiguity of the Act:
● Whether it has any retrospective effect, and
● Its alignment with the provisions of RERA
Have been appropriately addressed; this will pave the way for smooth registrations and transfer of apartments, which had been stalled due to the lack of clarity regarding the Act, causing local authorities to hesitate in addressing pending cases.
Rishabh Gandhi, Founder, Rishabh Gandhi and Advocates, says, “The latest clarification explicitly states that apartments completed before 25th February 2017 (RERA’s commencement in Odisha) should not be denied registration based on OAOM Act provisions. This will remove legal uncertainties, streamline registration processes, protect owners’ rights, and boost real estate transactions by ensuring uniformity in regulatory application. The directive to the Revenue & Disaster Management Department will help prevent further misinterpretations, ensuring smoother property dealings for apartment owners.”
No more ambiguity about the Odisha Apartment Act 2023 and RERA Act 2016
According to Soayib Qureshi, Partner, PSL Advocates & Solicitors, “In Odisha, the validity of the Odisha Apartment Ownership (Amendment) Rules, 2021 were challenged before the high court, in the case titled as Bimalendu Pradhan v. State of Orissa, on the ground that the same were contrary to the provisions of RERA Act, 2016. The Rules which were under challenge mandated the association of apartment owners to be formed only after execution of conveyance deeds.
The Odisha Real Estate Regulatory Authority had written to the Inspector General of Registration stating that in terms of section 17 (1) of RERA, registration of conveyance deeds should be rejected if the ownership of the common areas is not conveyed to association of allottees.
The High Court vide order dated May 12, 2022 held that the Registering Authority is bound to refuse to register an instrument for transfer of immovable property the ‘alienation or transfer of which is prohibited at any State and Central Act. With the RERA Act mandating that the transfer of common areas should only be effected in favour of an Association of apartment owners, sale deeds presented for registration which contain clauses contrary thereto cannot be allowed to be registered by the Registrar. The court therefore passed directions to the effect that the Registrar will strictly abide by the provisions of RERA Act. Thereafter, it was clarified to the high court that the restrictions imposed on registration of apartments will not be applicable to projects which had received completion certificates from competent authority prior to May 1, 2017, the date of commencement of the Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA) Act 2016. It was also impressed upon the State Government to bring in a legislation to iron out the issues.
Subsequently, the State government implemented the Odisha Apartment (Ownership and Management) Act, 2023, to facilitate the sale and purchase of apartments constructed before the RERA came into being. The Act has been enacted to consolidate the laws relating to ownership of an individual apartment in a building with an undivided interest in the common areas and facilities and to provide for better management of such apartment and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto. Sub-Section 9 of Section 8 of the Act in no uncertain terms bars execution of deed of transfer of apartment in favour of allottees before registration of association of allottees as per Section 15.
However, the Registering Authorities were mandating that on account of the operation of the Act, the old apartments which were pre-RERA period were also required to be registered. This caused ambiguity in the registration process. The recent notification has streamlined the process of registration of pre-RERA projects. It was in this background that it has been clarified that Registration Authorities shall not deny the registration of any apartment citing provisions of OAOM Act, if the apartment was completed before the commencement of RERA in the State, i.e. prior to 25th February 2017.”
