Greater Noida Authority cancels allotment of 1,200 plots

The Greater Noida Authority cancelled allotments of around 1,200 plots on Tuesday on account of non-payment of pending dues by their owners. 

These include 1,173 residential plots in different sectors of the city. Authority officials informed that allotments of 25 industrial plots and 12 institutional plots have also been cancelled.

Officials informed that the authority has taken the extreme step because it is reeling under a huge financial crisis to the tune of over Rs 6,000 crore to a number of banks and financial institutions. Non-payment of dues for several terms by plot allottees has added to the financial burden of the authority.

The cancellations were effected after the allottees failed to pay up three consecutive pending dues against their respective plots despite repeated notices issued by the Greater Noida Authority. Officials said that more cancellations might be effected in the near future as notices are being issued to several other allottees who have goofed up on making timely payments.

All plots, which had been allotted through different schemes by the authority since the year 2009, have been cancelled. Cancellation letters, said officials, have been issued to all allottees losing their plots.

“The cancelled plots will be put up for fresh allotments through a leftover scheme. The details of the scheme are being worked out following which the plots would be put up for sale,” said Manvendra Singh, DCEO, Greater Noida Authority.

Greater Noida Authority intends to raise revenues through the re-allotment of these plots so that debts and loans incurred by it can be cleared. A portion of the revenue so raised would also be used for paying compensation to farmers in lieu of their land in accordance with the Allahabad high court verdict of October 2011.

However, the authority also informed that it would give the first preference to original allottees of these plots to regain their allotments through a restoration process. Allottees would have to clear their pending dues together with penalties. “They will also be required to pay stiff restoration charges for regaining possession of their plots,” added Singh.

New Land Acquisition Law to Kick in From 2014

Come 2014 and a new law will guide all land acquisitions by central or state governments, bringing in stricter norms and increasing landowners’ compensation significantly.

The ministry of rural development plans to notify the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill, 2013, commonly referred to as the Land Acquisition Act, with effect from January 1, 2014, little more than two years after it was first introduced in the Parliament. 

“We will notify the Act on January 1,” Jairam Ramesh, the rural development minister, said, adding that the entire process of the new Act coming into force is on the fast track. The ministry has invited comments from the stakeholders over the next 45 days after which these will be published in the official gazette and finalized within 90 days.

The Land Acquisition Act was passed by the Parliament during monsoon session and has already received the assent of the President. The law replaces the Land Acquisition Act of 1894 by establishing new rules for compensation as well as resettlement and rehabilitation. 

The most important feature of the Act is that the developers will need the consent of up to 80% of people whose land is acquired for private projects and of 70% of the landowners in the case of public-private partnership projects.

Besides, it provides for compensation as high as four times than the practice now in rural areas and two times in urban areas. However, industry concerns related to land use have not been addressed in these draft rules because it is a state subject.

“Centre will only come out with suggestive guidelines on issues where it does not have a legislative jurisdiction but these are desirable activity under the Land Acquisition Act,” Ramesh said.

Land acquisitions for factories, roads and housing projects in states like Haryana and Uttar Pradesh have sparked clashes between farmers and state authorities, resulting in huge project delays.

Responding to a proposal from some political leaders on acquisition of only wasteland for industrialization, Ramesh said the ministry has come out with the Wasteland Atlas of India, based on the 2008-09 figures, in association with the Indian Space Research Organization.

Indian Land Acquisition Act, 1894

Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (LAA).

The Land Acquisition Act of 1894 is a legal Act in India which allows the Government of India to acquire any land in the country.

Meaning of Land Acquisition:

“Land Acquisition” literally means acquiring of land for some public purpose by government/government agency, as authorised by the law, from the individual landowner/s after paying a government fixed compensation in lieu of losses incurred by land owner/s due to surrendering of his/their land to the concerned government agency.

Purpose of Land Acquisition Act, 1894

The land acquisition act of 1894 was created with the expressed purpose of facilitating the government’s acquisition of privately held land for public purposes. The word "public purpose", as defined in the act, refers to the acquisition of land for putting up educational institutions or schemes such as housing, health or slum clearance, apart from the projects for rural planning or formation of sites. The word "government" refers to the central government if the purpose for acquisition is for the union and for all other purposes it refers to the state government. It is not necessary that all the acquisition has to be initiated by the government alone. Local authorities, societies registered under the societies registration act, 1860 and co-operative societies established under the co-operative societies act can also acquire the land for developmental activities through the government.

Key Provisions: The key provisions of the act are as follows:

(i) Notification under Section 4(1): Whenever the Government requires land for a public purpose, it causes a notification under Section 4(1) in the official Gazette; and in two daily newspapers circulated in that locality of which at least one shall be in the regional language; and the Collector shall cause a public notice of the substance of such notification to be given at convenient places in the locality.

(ii) Hearing of objections under Section 5-A: Any person interested in the land notified under Section 4(1) may within 30 days from the date of the publication of the notification make his objections, if any, to the Collector in writing and shall be heard by the Collector. Section 5-A is mandatory and is a condition precedent for declaration under Section 6, unless superseded by emergency provision under Section 17.

(iii) Declaration of intended acquisition under Section 6: After considering the report made under 5-A(2) on the objections raised if any, a declaration shall be made to the effect that the particular land is needed for a public purpose.

The amendment by Act LXVIII of 1984 makes it obligatory for the State to publish the Section 6 declaration in two daily newspapers circulated in the locality of which one shall be in the regional language and to cause public notice of the substance of the declaration apart from the publication in the Gazette.

(iv) After declaration the Collector shall take order for acquisition under Section 7. The Collector then causes the land to be marked out, measured and planned under Section 8. The Collector then causes public notice under Section 9 to be given at convenient places on or near the land to be taken, stating the intention of the Government to take possession of the land, and that claims to compensation may be made.

(v) Enquiry and award by Collector under Section 11: The Collector shall enquire in to the objections, if any, into measurement, value and claims and shall make an award of:

• the true area of the land,
• the compensation which in his opinion should be allowed for the land, and
• the apportionment of the said compensation among all the persons known or believed to be interested in the land, of whom, or of whose claims, he has information, whether or not they have respectively appeared before him.

(vi) The Amendment Act LXVIII of 1984 introduced an important section, Section 11-A which prescribes two years time for the award to be passed after Section 6 declaration and if no award is made within this period, the entire proceedings for the acquisition of land shall lapse.

(vii) Special powers in cases of urgency under Section 17: In cases of urgency, whenever the Government so directs, the Collector, though no such award has been made, may, on the expiration of fifteen days from the publication of notice under Section 9(1), take possession of land for public purpose (only in case of change in channel of a river or unforeseen emergency for railway administration, library or educational institution, common building in a village, godown for any registered co-operative society, dwelling house for the poor, any irrigation tank, irrigation or drainage channel or any well, or any road).

However, amendment to Section 17 by Act LXVIII of 1984, was made to protect the interest of the landowners by directing deposit of eighty percent of the compensation as estimated by the Collector, before taking possession.

(viii) Section 18 deals with reference to the court by the Collector on written submission made by the land owner who does not accept the award made by the Collector and require that the matter be referred to the court.

(ix) Matters considered in determining the compensation under Section 23: The following will be taken into account while determining the compensation:

• Market value of land on the date of 4(1) notification.
• Damage to crops or trees.
• Damage sustained due to severance of land.
• Damage sustained by other property on account of acquisition.
• Incidental expenses for relocation.
• Section 23(1-A) provides for twelve percent per annum on market value from the date of 4(1) notification to date of award or the date of taking possession of the land*, whichever is earlier.
• Section 23(2) provides for thirty percent solatium on the market value of the land, in consideration of the compulsory nature of the acquisition.

(x) Section 24 provides for matters which are neglected in determining compensation;

(xi) Under section 25 the LA Act stipulates that the compensation amount fixed by the court should not be less than the compensation awarded by the District Collector under Section 11.

(xii) Section 28 empowers the court to order the District Collector to pay interest at 9% on the amount awarded by the court in excess of the compensation granted by the Collector and if the excess amount is paid into Court after 1 year from the date of taking possession, an interest at 15% per annum shall be payable.

(xiii) Section 28-A provides an opportunity to those who have not made an application to the Collector under Section 18 of LAA, to seek re-determination of the compensation amount. To avail the benefit of re-determining compensation a written application should be made within 3 months** from the date of award of the Court.

(xiv) Section 34 addresses delayed payments, and provide for an additional 9 percent per annum for the first year and 15 percent for subsequent years, if the compensation is not paid or deposited on or before taking possession of land (Section 9).

*The Supreme Court has ruled that 12 percent interest shall come into effect only from the date of 4(1) and not before

**Application for re-determination of compensation filed after the expiry of three months is barred by limitation [1997 (6) SCC 59].

How the Direct Tax Code will affect you

By Suresh V Swamy – Executive Director and Amee Gala – Manager PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC)

Is today a taxing Monday? The Direct Tax Code (DTC) bill has been introduced in Parliament on Monday. If you wonder whether that concerns you, then yes, as effective from April 1, 2012, it is likely to replace the Income-tax Act of 1961 under which you currently pay tax.

The fine print of the revised DTC bill which is eagerly awaited will be the third update of the Government’s proposal on the DTC (after its introduction in August 2009 and the release of the revised discussion paper in June 2010). There have been enormous discussions around what this bill will offer against its earlier versions and the existing Act.

As an individual tax payer, the key watch-out areas, include –

-Income tax slabs

-Capital gains tax regime

-Tax implications on withdrawal of retirement savings

-Wealth tax

There have been considerate amount of discussions on a favourable change in the income tax slabs as against the current slabs, though not as beneficial as the original DTC. This includes - increase in the income-tax threshold for exemption and no additional levy of surcharge and education cess. It will be very interesting to wait and watch what the bill contains finally and whether individual tax payers get any substantial relief from tax.

If the capital gains tax regime introduced in the bill is in line with the revised discussion paper on the DTC, there will be adverse tax implications mainly on sale of listed securities on the exchange.

Currently under the Act, no tax is required to be paid on securities held for more than a year from the date of acquisition and sold on the stock exchange on which securities transaction tax is paid. In addition to this, for securities held for less than one year, the tax liability is restricted to 15 per cent. However, under the DTC, there has been some relief granted to the tax payers by providing for a specified percentage deduction from income / indexation benefit depending on the nature of security on assets held for long term. However, in case of short term assets, there is no relaxation to the tax payer and tax will be required to paid as in case of any other ordinary income.

Also, as per the revised discussion paper on the DTC, the security will be required to be held for a period of one year from the end of the financial year in which it is acquired to be construed as long term. This could lead to a scenario, wherein a security acquired in the beginning of the financial year may be required to be held for almost 24 months to consider the gains arising from sale of such securities as long term capital gains. This may also, result in an overall preference to acquire securities towards the end of a financial year.

There were also certain news reports that indicate that the Government had decided to maintain status quo on capital gains taxes. It is unclear whether the status quo is with respect to the current law or with respect to the proposals contained in the revised discussion paper.

The Government has also proposed to restore back the taxation of retirement savings, in the nature of provident fund contributions and pure life insurance and annuity products, to the Exempt-Exempt-Exempt (EEE) scheme from the earlier proposition of Exempt-Exempt-Tax (EET) scheme under the revised discussion paper in the DTC. This will be a good relief for the retired individuals given that the Indian economy does not have a social security system in place and also considering the inflationary pressures on the economy. It is pertinent to note that the EEE scheme does not seem to be extended to ULIPS, ELSS, etc. which may still be governed by the EET scheme of taxation from a prospective basis unless the Government includes these also under the EEE net in the bill.

Wealth tax under the provisions of initial DTC, was required to be paid only on wealth in excess of Rs 50 crores at a tax rate of 0.25 per cent but on all assets including financial assets, i.e., investments in shares. Under the current tax regime, wealth tax is required to be paid @ one per cent on wealth in excess of Rs 30 lakhs. The Government, however, under the revised discussion paper has stated that the exemption limit from wealth tax is substantially high and that unproductive assets may not be subject to wealth. It will be interesting to know finally how much wealth the government exempts from tax under the bill and whether investments in shares and other securities will be included for wealth tax purposes.

Considering that the revised discussion paper had addressed the major concerns that the industry at large had placed before the Government, it will be very interesting to read and analyse the DTC bill to know whether the UPA Government achieves in reducing the aam aadmi’s tax burden and its proposition to make the DTC a simple and predictable one.

Source: Moneycontrol.com