Mumbai: ‘Abuse of online registration site must be stopped’

Registration officials were alarmed by high number of online registrations of leave and licence agreements. Representation pic

Allowing free access to the public to register leave and licence agreements on the government's online portal without ownership details has exposed the lack of security checks within the system, say the Maharashtra State Housing Federation and real estate experts. Concerned over the major flaw, the experts have demanded immediate corrective measures.

Some of the experts suggested deploying Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools on the portal to prevent hutments, table space and dodgy documents from being uploaded into the system. The experts were reacting to mid-day's expose titled, ‘Registration of hutments stuns state' dated July 26. The news report highlighted unscrupulous elements registering leave and licence agreements for huts and table spaces to gain legitimacy for dodgy properties which otherwise do not come under the ambit of Indian Registration Act, 1908 and Maharashtra Stamp Act, 1958.

Fix the loose ends

Ramesh Prabhu of Maharashtra Societies Welfare Association (MahaSEWA) said, "Allowing access to anyone to register documents online without proper authentication is not only shocking but also a serious matter of concern. It is imperative that the inspector general of stamps should take immediate corrective steps to prevent such dodgy documents from getting registered online. The registered documents can be misused as valid proof of address and thereby obtaining other valid identity proofs and licences."

Prabhu added, "The registration department should outsource the online registration work to financial institutions like banks and cooperative credit societies and state-run agencies, which are already registered under specific laws and have proper regulatory system in place, to monitor the functioning and activities, rather than allowing registration access to one and all."

Solicitor Stuti Galiya, partner with a law firm; (right) Advocate Shreeprasad Parab, expert director, Maharashtra State Housing Federation

Online portal vulnerable to abuse

"The online registration of leave and licence is highly vulnerable to abuse of process of registration of documents as laid down in Section 17 of Registration Act, 1908. Firstly, the person registering documents does not have to attach any ownership documents such as property card, society NOC, or share certificate issued by cooperative housing society. Secondly, there is no provision to upload scanned images of supporting documents such as Aadhaar Card, PAN card of both the executing parties. Thirdly, this online registration of leave and licence agreements are even used as proof of address for procurement of passports. This calls for immediate corrective action from the registration department," said advocate Godfrey Pimenta, who is also trustee of Watchdog Foundation.

Citing a case he handled, Pimenta said, "I had once revoked a passport of a licensee on behalf of the property owner. The licensee without consent of the owner had procured a passport, showing it as his place of address. Acting on my complaint, the regional passport authority, Mumbai, subsequently revoked the passport under section 10 (3) of Passport Act, 1967. Under the General Clauses Act, a document issued by the government is presumed to be true unless proved contrary. Therefore, an online leave and licence agreement registered bearing the stamp of the registrar of assurance is likely to be misused."

AI tools can be used

"To prevent any misuse of the online facility, it is necessary that the department of registration issues circular providing complete guidelines and the bare minimum verification, which needs to be done at the sub-registrar's office, before they authenticate and approve the online registration. It is also necessary that the online portal should provide options to the sub-registrar's office for calling upon additional documents and information. To avoid bogus registrations, technology and AI tools could be used. These tools could help in detecting whether the premises are genuine and prevent multiple registrations of the same premises," said solicitor Stuti Galiya, a partner with a law firm.

Expert view

Advocate Shreeprasad Parab, expert director, Maharashtra State Housing Federation stated, "If such multiple agreements are registered for a flat, then it may result in misuse of the documents as address proof and also compromise the security of the other members in the premises. Section 55 of the Maharashtra Rent Control Act mandates that the agreement for leave and licence shall be mandatorily registered as per the provisions of the registration Act, 1908.

The section further states that the responsibility of getting the agreement registered lies with the landlord and in the absence of any written registered agreement, the contention of the tenant about the agreed terms and conditions will prevail unless proven otherwise. If the landlord contravenes the above provision, then a fine up to R5,000 may be imposed on him and or may also be punished with imprisonment which may extend to three months." Parab added, "Leave and licence agreement registered online can be misused as a valid address proof for obtaining Aadhaar card, bank accounts, passport services etc."

Solutions suggested

. The registration department should fix the flaws on the portal and should immediately modify the portal for mandatory uploading proof of ownership documents.

. Registration of the leave and licence agreement should be allowed only from the agencies authorised by the state and with the digitalisation of the data on a daily basis.

. The registration shall be linked online to the police station concerned having jurisdiction of the area in which the flat or premises is situated.

. Multiple registrations of leave and licence agreement of a single flat should be automatically red-flagged at the office of the sub registrar and the police station concerned, thus ensuring the proper verification of the person using the premises.