• By Nidhi Giri
  • Sat, 22 Mar 2025 12:07 PM (IST)
  • Source:JND

UP: Noida homebuyers are likely to face problems as physical non-judicial stamp papers are set to become invalid after March 31. Homebuyers, many of whom purchased the documents years ago at the insistence of builders for registration of their flats, have raised concerns. As per the buyers the 15-day window granted to return the papers was too short as they cannot get their hands on these documents, many of denominations above Rs 2 lakh, within the deadline.

In its March 11 notification, UP has agreed to refund the fee for stamp papers of denomination between Rs 10,000 and Rs 25,000 after deducting a 10 per cent charge till the deadline.

A group of homebuyers from Apex Golf Avenue in Greater Noida West, who met ADM (finance and revenue) Atul Kumar on Friday, want the govt to reimburse the total sum or permit them to use the stamp papers beyond March 31, reported Times of India.

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“Homebuyers in my society purchased stamp duty papers worth Rs 2.5 to Rs 3 lakh each in 2019 and handed them over to the builder. Of 730 flats, almost everyone bought stamp papers. About 50 per cent opted for e-stamps, but the rest of us will be affected by the new," Rohit Mishra, a resident of Apex Golf said as quoted by TOI.

Till Dec 2024, around 7,000 flats across 34 projects that opted for UP's relief package were yet to be registered. None of the 730 flats in Apex Golf are registered.

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New Era Flat Owners Welfare Association (NEFOWA) president Abhishek Kumar informed that more than Rs 100 crore worth of stamp paper could be affected following the governmnet's new directive. "If an average buyer purchased stamp papers worth Rs 2 lakh, then with at least 50,000 affected homebuyers, the total amount stuck is Rs 100 crore. It could be even higher. If we don't return these stamp papers within 10 days, they will become worthless," he said, as per the report.

Stamp duty is around 6 per cent to 7 per cent of the total cost of a flat. An additional 1 per cent of the total cost is charged a processing fee.