Finance dept says no NOC to power of attorney holders

The orders,issued on September 2,have been circulated to the branches of the UT Estate Office,which deal with NOC related matters.

The stern decision has been taken in wake of the increasing cases of misuse of GPAs for obtaining NOCs from the Estate Office,leading to a large number of litigations.

“GPA does not provide ownership rights to the holder. Rather,it is a power of attorney given to the holder by the owner of property to perform certain actions on behalf of the absolute owner. For instance,the GPA holder can correspond with the government departments concerned on behalf of the owner,pay bills,accept and redress notices,etc,” a senior official explained.

“So far,GPA holders were allowed to apply for NOC. Bur certain unscrupulous elements had made it a tool for grabbing properties. After obtaining the NOC,such elements were selling the property and cheating the absolute owner,” the official added.

In its order,the Finance department states: “It has come to notice that there are some issues and cases of misuse of NOC… In this regard,in future NOC will only be applied by the owner of the property as per the records of the Estate Office and the same will only be issued to him or her.”

In order to upgrade the records of the Estate Office,the Finance department has ordered that all owners be asked to send their photographs and photographs of their family members,which will be attached to their files to avoid misrepresentation or impersonation.

“It has been observed that either complete or part of the property records are missing in the Estate Office. It has been decided that the property records be kept at a centralised place under proper lock and key and be issued to only for official purpose under proper receipt,” the order states.

The Finance department further directed the Estate Office to take stern action against officials found involved in misplacing records.

Directions to Estate Office

* All officials dealing with files of residential and commercial properties must immediately check the files,put page numbers,indicate details and certify the complete record. If a page or data is missing,it should be immediately brought to the notice of the Assistant Estate Officer (AEO).

* No private person be allowed to enter any branch of the Estate Office.

* AEO directed to compile the entire record of the Estate Office at one place within 30 days.

* AEO directed to work out modalities to scan the records and keep their soft copy.

* Interaction of the public with the Estate Office officials will be only through a single window system or a facilitation centre counter in the Estate Office. AEO has been asked to review the functioning of the single window system.

* Stringent action to be taken against an official if any document or information demanded by the public is not delivered in time.