All about Ownership Certificate

Certificate of Ownership means a certificate issued by the authority whether Municipality or Government in case the land is purchased or issued by some authority which entitles some person to the ownership of the thing in respect of which it is issued.

The person holding the certificate of ownership is free to use the property, which means he can sell it, rent it or dispose it in any manner he likes.

In legal terms, one can get the Certificate of Ownership for property in the shape of title deed of land or one can get the certificate of ownership for its Car or vehicle in the shape of Registration Certificate which is issued by the concerned Regional Transport Authority.

Legal meaning of Certificate of Ownership

As per Merriam Webster dictionary Certificate of Ownership means a Certificate of title stating the title to the specified property and that specific property is free from any kind of encumbrance.

In law ownership refers to the relation which a person has with the thing he owns. It is the collection of all rights which the person has with that object. The concept of ownership flows from the concept of possession. In past there was no such idea as that of ownership it gradually began to develop when people started building houses and cultivating land.

According to Austin, ownership refers to “a right indefinite in point of user, unrestricted in point of disposition and unlimited in point of duration.”

Consequences of getting Certificate of Ownership

Indefinite in point of user:- The owner of a property has the liberty to use it. No one else can use it for any other purpose except the owner.
Unrestricted in point of disposition:- The owner of the property can dispose of the property out of his own free will. A person must have the ownership of that thing in order to transfer that thing to the other person.
Right to possess.
Right to exhaust the thing which he owns.
The owner of the property may dispense with one or all of its rights and that does not divest him of the ownership.

Subject Matter of Ownership Certificate

What can be legally acquired depends upon the legal system of every State. The State may grant the right of ownership to certain things like forests, air, water etc.

Modes of taking Ownership Certificate

The person can be the owner of a thing which has no owner i.e. res nullius in this case ownership can be taken by possession.

Secondly, person can be the owner of a thing by derivative method i.e. by way of inheritance, gift, sale etc. In this case person can be the owner by following the proper legal procedures.

Recent Judgement of Supreme Court of India on Ownership Certificate

Recently, the Hon’ble Supreme Court in its judgment Surendra Kumar Bhilwale v. The New India Company Assurance Limited dated 18.06.2020 has re-iterated that the person in whose name the motor vehicle stands registered, would be treated as the owner of the vehicle for the purpose of the Motor Vehicle Act, 1988 (“MVA”).

Procedure for getting Ownership Certificate from Punjab Urban Development Authority

If you want to get the Ownership Certificate of Plot, flat or property in Punjab you have to apply to the GMADA (Greater Mohali Area Development Authority) in prescribed format in the following manner:-

Application Form
Liability affidavit of Purchaser(s) / Doner(s) / Transferee(s).

Affidavit from the Seller(s) that the property is free from all sorts of encumbrances or litigation in any court of law, liens, mortgage etc.

Photo identity proof of Seller (s) and Purchaser(s).
Details of the legal heirs of the Purchaser(s) alongwith with their duly attested photographs.
Clearance against loan / mortgage, if any.

Copy of sanction of Sewerage Connection / Occupation Certificate, if obtained.
Processing Fee, Transfer Fee, Extension Fee, as applicable.
- Processing Fee (for all cases): Rs. 5752/- in case of residential plots / houses and Rs. 11504/- in case of commercial and all other sites. (10% increase w.e.f. 1st April of every year).

‘Family Transfer’ would mean any transfer within the family comprising of father, mother, son, daughter, husband, wife, brother and sister.

Transfer Fee (applicable only in case permission is sought before the issuance of Conveyance Deed): 2.5 % of the Allotment / Auction price in case of residential / commercial sites and 5 % of the Allotment price in case of Houses.

family transfer will be allowed on payment of following transfer fee.

Residential	Commercial
500 sq. yds. Rs. 10,000/-	Booth Rs. 10,000/
400 sq. yds. Rs. 8,000/-	SSS Rs. 20,000/-
300 sq. yds. Rs. 6,000/-	SCO/SCF Rs. 30,000/-
250 sq. yds. Rs. 5,000/-
200 sq. yds. Rs. 4,000/
150 sq. yds. Rs. 3,000/-

Note: In case of constructed plots, additional transfer fee for constructed covered area Rs. 10/- per sq. ft. will be charged (applicable to Family Transfer also). Addition of name/Family transfer in Houses: i) Rs. 2,000/- is charged as transfer fee in family transfer cases. ii) Processing fee Rs. 4754/-

Extension Fee, if applicable : Wherever Completion / Occupation Certificate has not been obtained, the extension fee would be leviable as a percentage of the allotment price fixed by the Authority for residential sites or sites allotted to institutions, housing societies, industrial units and private developers. In case of commercial sites, the extension fee would be leviable as a percentage of the auction price or allotment price, as the case may be. The following are the rates:

No of years from which extension fee is leviable	Residential	Commercial	Institutional Site, Housing Societies, Industrial Sites
4th year	2 %	2%	2%
5^th year	2%	2%	2%
6^th year	2.5%	2.5%	2.5%
7^th year	2.5%	2.5%	2.5%
8^th year	2.5%	2.5%	2.5%
9^th year	3%	3%	3%
10^th year	3%	3%	3%
11^th year	3.5%	3.5%	3.5%
12^th year	3.5%	3.5%	3.5%
13^th year	4%	4%	4%
14^th year	4%	4%	4%
15^th year	4%	4%	4%

The fee, as specified above shall be charged half yearly commencing from 1st day of January to 30th June and from 1st July to 31st December of the relevant year.

No fee shall be leviable for extending the period of construction, if the land has been allotted by the Authority to any Department of the State Government or any PSU of the State Government.

(ix) In case of any outstanding dues against the property: Applicants may visit website www.gmada.gov.in to see the account statement of the property under ‘Know your property details’ section.

All the above documents should be submitted duly self-attested by the applicant and pasted on the blank sheets in the booklet.

All payments shall be made in the form of a Demand Draft favouring EO, GMADA payable at S.A.S. Nagar/Chandigarh.

All fees are subject to revision at the start of the new financial year

FOR OFFICE USE ONLY

Certified that I have checked and found all the documents in order

Signature of Receipt Clerk Signature of Superintendent

Name___________ Name_______________

Date____________ Date________________

Procedure for getting the Ownership Certificate by way of getting the Property registered in the Office of Sub-registrar, Chandigarh.

The documents i.e. Sale Deed, Agreement to Sell, Lease Deed, Rent Deed, Family Settlement, Partnership Deed, Gift Deed, GPA/SPA/Will etc. are registered by the office of Sub-registrar under Indian Registration Act, 1908 and Registration Manual. The documents duly executed in true form between the parties as per procedure laid down in the Act are presented for registration before the Sub-Registrar, Chandigarh. After satisfying the proper stamp duty and documentation & after ascertaining the contents of the documents from the executor, the same is ordered to be registered after verifying the identification of the executants from the two witnesses both the witnesses must be known to each other and the first witness is required to be known to the Sub Registrar i.e. Lambardar, Sarpanch, Member Panchayat (for rural area), councillor, Gazetted officer, Advocates. The documents after registration are delivered to the concerned parties on the same day.

Fees to be paid to Chandigarh Administration for getting the Ownership Certificate of land, building, house etc.

Any person who wants to get the property registered with the Sub-Registrar Office

Chandigarh, has to pay the following registration fees.

S. No.	Deed	Stamp Duty	Registration Fees
1.	Sale Deed, Gift Deed, Conveyance Deed, Sub Conveyance Deed	5 % on value of consideration (whichever is higher)	1% on value of consideration subject to a maximum of Rs. 10000/-

Procedure for getting Ownership Certificate of Plot issued by Haryana Urban Development Authority.

The Residential Plots in new sectors are allotted by inviting applications in the leading newspapers. Allotment is made by conducting the draw of lots from the applications received against the advertisement. All the successful applicants are issued a letter of allotment by including all terms & conditions of allotment and mode of schedule of payment. This allotment is made as per the provisions of Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) Act, 1977.

Payment Schedule to be followed for getting the Ownership Certificate of Plot

The following is the payment schedule for residential plots allotted by draw of lots :-

10% of tentative cost of the plot to be paid as earnest money at the time of submission of application.
15% of the tentative cost of the plot to be paid within 30 days from the date of issuance of letter of allotment.
Balance 75% of the tentative price of the plot is payable within 60 days in lumpsum without interest from the date of issuance of the allotment letter or in six annual instalments with 9% rate of interest. The first instalment is payable after expiry of one year of the date of issue of allotment letter. The interest, on the remaining amount however, accrues from the date of offer of possession.
The interest @11% per annum is chargeable on the delayed payments for the delayed period as per existing policy.