According to the recent news reports, the Indian real estate market has the maximum cash flow and due to this fact majority of black money in the country is pumped into both residential and commercials properties. In fact, it took only four months after the announcement of demonetization, that the black money transactions silently come back into the real estate market, particularly in the premium section. To the ensure accountability and transparency in the real estate market, the government is planning on linking Aadhar with the real estate transactions. During a T.V interview, the Union Housing Minister Hardeep Puri hinted at mandatory Aadhaar linkage with property transactions. According to Puri, linking property with Aadhaar would go a long way in sucking out black money from real estate and also help in the crackdown on benami properties. “We are already linking Aadhaar to bank accounts, etc, and we can take some additional steps for property market also,” the minister said, adding that, “I have no doubt that it will happen.” It is not the first time the central government discussed the Aadhar linkage. In November 2014, Arun Jaitley said that the government is considering Aadhaar linkage in real estate.
Various newspapers in August 2017 reported that to provide legal backing to Aadhaar-enabled verification of property documents, the central government has the plan to amend Sections 32 and 32A of the Registration Act, 1908. According to the real estate experts, Adhaar linkage with the property transaction will have a huge impact on the sector. They argue that the market has already slowed down due to Demonetization, GST and RERA and its recovery would take more time if the Aadhar linkage is finalized. Others said this move will boost transparency and will help to create critical databases, comprising of sales, pricing trends and supply demand, in real estate market. The overall sentiment in the real market is quite positive. One thing is for certain that the process of Aadhaar linkage would a step cleaning up already tainted sector but with the vast scale of the real estate market in India, it can’t be implemented in a hurry. But even before the government can get the amended it will have come across the Supreme Court. The apex court is currently hearing a case against the linking of Aadhaar to bank accounts as a violation of citizens’ right to privacy.
BY
Angad Sadana