Apartment buyers in Odisha have long paid twice — once for their own flat and again, collectively, when common land, lifts, stairs and parking were transferred to the owners’ association. That second hit is what the state now wants to shrink.
On Monday, Revenue and Disaster Management Minister Suresh Pujari introduced the Indian Stamp (Odisha Amendment) Bill, 2026 in the Odisha Legislative Assembly. The bill would replace the ordinance already in force since May and rewrite Article 23(c) of Schedule I-A of the Indian Stamp Act, 1899 as it applies in Odisha.
The target is the bottleneck created by the Odisha Apartment (Ownership and Management) Act, 2023. That law requires the promoter to transfer common areas and facilities — land, garage, staircase, lift and similar shared assets — to the Association of Allottees through a registered deed before individual units can be cleanly conveyed. Charging a full percentage stamp duty on that collective deed often meant a lump-sum bill large enough to stall entire projects.
What the bill changes
- Transfer of common areas and facilities from the promoter to the Association of Allottees: a flat stamp duty of ₹50,000, not a percentage of project value.
- Registration fee on that same common-area deed: already capped at ₹20,000.
- Individual apartment unit (including its undivided share in common areas): a uniform 5% stamp duty.
- The old value slabs — 3% up to ₹5 lakh, 4% from ₹5 lakh to ₹15 lakh, and 5% above ₹15 lakh — would go.
The government argument is straightforward: associations stop carrying an outsized upfront tax, owners still pay duty on their own unit plus their share of the commons, and the exchequer is not left empty.
EWS buyers keep the bigger concession
Economically Weaker Section households buying under affordable housing schemes already get a 90% rebate on stamp duty and registration. Officials say the old 3% and 4% slabs for properties up to ₹15 lakh no longer matter for that group; the 90% cut already takes them below those rates.
Once the Assembly passes the bill, the May 2026 ordinance will stand replaced by the Indian Stamp (Odisha Amendment) Act, 2026.
Pujari told the House the package is meant to make registration “simpler and smoother,” cut “unnecessary financial burden” on apartment owners, and still protect the state’s revenue interest. For thousands of buyers stuck between a completed building and an unfinished title, that is the test the new law will have to pass.
