Govt offers amnesty scheme for defaulter allottees in realty sector

CHANDIGARH:The Punjab government on Friday announced several initiatives, including an amnesty scheme for defaulter allottees of real estate, offering a one-time settlement of land cost payment at 15% interest.

The announcement came during a meeting of the Punjab Urban Planning and Development Authority, department of housing and urban development, that chaired by chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh and attended by local bodies minister Navjot Singh Sidhu, among others.

The meeting decided, in principle, to provide a one-time opportunity to defaulter allottees of various urban planning authorities, an official spokesperson said. The rate of interest for settlement of all legal disputes involving property price payment has been finalised at 15% following the intervention of the chief minister, who directed the department to lower it from the proposed 18%.

However, the scheme will be applicable only to those allottees who have defaulted for less than four years or whose penalty amount is less than 100% of the principal amount, the spokesperson said.

The chief minister also soft launched the New Punjab Sehri Awas Yojana (PSAY), which is aimed at providing free or subsidised residential houses to houseless urban poor. The scheme was given the go-ahead by the state cabinet on March 18, in line with implementing major poll promises of the Congress.

Under the scheme, free housing will be provided to eligible houseless Scheduled Caste and Backward Caste urban families with an annual income less than ₹3 lakh in Phase 1, and with an annual income less than ₹5 lakh in Phase 2. Besides, subsidised housing will be provided to people in various categories.

The meeting also approved lowering of the annual hike in reserved price of residential land, from 10% to 5%, through an amendment to the reserved price fixation policy, to benefit urban populations.