Under the aegis of the Prohibition of Benami Property Transactions Act, 1988, which came into force from November 1 this year, property owners in will now have to register Know Your Customer (KYC) details at municipal corporations, municipalities and panchayats. The Act aims to check the flow of black money into real estate sector.
After the recent demonetisation of high-value notes, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s next step could be a crackdown on benami properties. Properties without KYC will be treated as benami and the government will have the power to seize such properties.
The new KYC norms, other than Aadhar card details, will include bank accounts details, PAN numbers and passport details.
“Though no timeframe has been prescribed by the Centre as to when the process would begin, there are indications that it may take place early 2017 in February-March," official sources told Deccan Chronicle. Oil marketing companies took up KYC exercise in 2013 to stop the bogus connections. LPG consumers were asked to submit KYC forms at gas distribution agencies and submit the Aadhaar, bank account and address details.
This process helped tracking lakhs of bogus and multiple gas connections across the country, which were cancelled, and saving crores of rupees in subsidy bills.
Similarly, for property owner, notification will be issued seeking KYC registration. The owners will be given two to three months to provide details at the local bodies across the state.
However, source of income for owning the property will not be asked as part of KYC, but necessary investigation will be taken against suspicious KYC declarations.