Q577. NRI having problems

registering land purchased in

Jaipur . . .

Question: Dear Sir/Madam, I am an Indian citizen and currently residing in Vienna, Austria. We have purchased a plot at Bhaskar Enclave II, Jaipur through M/s Oriors Developers & Infrastructure Pvt. Ltd., Gurgaon [Tel. 0124-4267416]. We have made full payments for the plot as well as ‘service charges for getting the plot registered with JDA’, to M/s Oriors in March 2012. Since March 2012 despite our repeated requests the company neither registered the plot with JDA nor provided any paper related to the plot so far to us. One of our family friends has constantly been in touch with them but they always give one reason or the other for the delay in registering the plot. I do not know how to get proper documents for the plot. Could you please suggest what should I do in this case. I would appreciate if you could let me know some agency who could take up the matter with the company and pursue my case. Thanks Vinod Sinandi Answer: I cannot comment on your situation as I have not read your purchase agreement. If the company you are dealing with is not living up to the purchase agreement, after having been paid and not giving you a satisfactory answer to your inquiries, your option is to seek legal help from a lawyer in India. After looking at your purchase agreement the lawyer would be able to advise you on the best course of action. Hopefully you have made payments for your land purchase through legal banking channels and have proof of payments made. PIOs and NRIs who are permanently settled abroad should do their homework when investing in property located in India. Since NRIs are thousands of miles away and many of them are unable to visit the construction sites to check progress, they need to be careful when investing in India. • Do not be mislead into signing and paying for properties that appear to be priced low. Do your research BEFORE paying, not afterwards. • Check and get copies of original documents that show that the property being sold to you is actually owned by the seller. Then verify the documents with the registration authorities with the help of a lawyer. • Ensure that the proposed construction is legal and meets the local laws. Ask for a approved layout plan of the project. • Make payments only through proper banking channels.