The Haryana government’s recent decision to enable the registration of individual floors in multi-storeyed residential properties has hit a roadblock. At least for now.

Different state agencies issuing different directives has led to confusion and uncertainty among district-level authorities. Result: officials at the district level are refusing floor-wise registration. They claim they have not received any directions from the government in this regard.

Adding to the confusion, the state’s town and country planning department and the Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) have issued separate letters to district-level officials, listing different provisions. Interestingly, both letters cite decisions taken at the same meeting: chaired by the Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda on November 11, 2008.

The letters, from the Financial Commissioner and the Principal Secretary of the town and country planning department, to all Deputy Commissioners and tehsildars says the registration of independent floors would be allowed for residential plots of 180 square yards or above.

Meaning: floor-wise registration would not be done for properties up to 179 square yards. But another letter from the Chief Administrator of HUDA to all HUDA administrators in the state says, “In the case of vacant plots in old sectors and all residential plots in new sectors, there shall be no restriction regarding the size of plots that can have multiple owners floor-wise.”

Meaning: properties (including separate floors belonging to different owners) of all plot-sizes have to be registered. People as well as official sources say that the local authorities simply refuse to carry out floor-wise registration of property as they have not received a government notification as yet. The problem assumes greater significance in cities like Gurgaon, Faridabad and Panchkula, where the density of population is already quite high.