Government to make Aadhar mandatory for land registration to curb Benami transactions

The government is planning to make Aadhar-based authentication mandatory at the time of registration of documents such as agreement for sale and power of attorney to curb benami transaction and use of black money in real estate deals.

According to a report published in the Indian Express the government plans to enable electric registration of properties, for which Aadhar-based authentication will be prerequisite. The English national daily quoting its sources reported that the government plans to amend Section 32 and 32A Registration Act, 1908 for this. 

The newspaper has reported that the department of land resources, under the Ministry of Rural Development, has already written to state government and Union Territories, advising them to notify rules mandating consent-based Aadhar authentication.

According to the report the Centre is planning to amend the Registration Act, 1908, to provide legal backing to Aadhaar-enabled authentication of documents. 

The move by the government comes after a series of measures adopted by to curb the use of black money and benami transactions in the realty sector.

Accoridng to the report a person found guilty of benami transactions would face rigorous imprisonment. 

Giving reference of a letter sent to chief secretaries and administrators of all state and Union Territories on March 9 the English daily writes, “To enable consent-based Aadhaar authentication services for registration of documents, the state government/UT Administration/Inspector General of Registration of the State/UT will need to exercise powers contained in Section 69 of the Registration Act, 1908.”