In the past few years, there has been on and off talks about an impending decision to link Aadhaar with property and the decibel level around this audacious gambit has just got louder.
If the government moves ahead with its plan and implement widely speculated concept of linking Aadhaar card with property, it will result in another surgical strike on black money and money laundering. The first and major ‘surgical strike’ was in the form of demonetisation announced in November 2016.
Ever since Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government came into power since 2014, it has tightened its screws on the black money and the first hit of the campaign was taken by the real estate sector. With black money flowing in the sector, property prices fell and the value destruction in property has been a key cause of the economic slowdown.
The fall in property prices has controlled the generation of black money and also made property more affordable for the masses, especially as the government is moving towards Housing for All target by 2022.
There have been reports of the government being in final stages of coming out with a law to link Aadhaar with property.
The move, if it happens, will weed out ‘benami’ (proxy) transactions, increase transparency and make property more affordable as there could be an initial rush to liquidate assets for fear of coming under the tax lens.
Rajan Bandelkar, President, NAREDCO Maharashtra, in a recent statement, said: “Linking Aadhaar with property ownership has the potential to weed out black money and eradicate fraudulence from the real estate sector. This move also has the potential to enable rationalization of home prices, as all those who have invested in benami property will rush to disinvest.”
It can, however, help in the ease of transactions and providing finance. “The Aadhaar-property linkage will also provide some ease to procedures related to home buying such as home loan, property transaction, sale or purchase of property, etc, due to enhanced transparency. Since the entire linking process will be time-consuming, the government should give enough time to property owners,” Bandelkar added.
(With input from agencies)