Statement of Unpaid Common Expenses (Association No-Dues Certificate)

स्टाम्प ड्यूटी

No stamp duty — a ledger statement creates/transfers/extinguishes no right, so no Schedule I-A article (Indian Stamp Act, 1899) reaches it, Punjab (as amended) or Chandigarh (as continued). Print on letterhead; stamp paper confuses it with an affidavit. What the transaction itself costs: Punjab conveyance/sale deeds draw 5% duty plus 1% Social Infrastructure Cess plus 1% PIDB levy, 1% registration fee (capped Rs 2,00,000), facilitation charges Rs 1,000/3,000/5,000 (up to Rs 10 lakh / Rs 10-30 lakh / above Rs 30 lakh), Rs 200 pasting fee, Rs 600 mutation fee, on consideration or the higher Collector rate (revenue.punjab.gov.in, checked 6 Sept 2026; portals wrongly quote a flat 7%). Chandigarh: 5% (Administration's table; Tribune, 28 March 2026 agrees; portals wrongly say 6%), registration fee capped Rs 10,000 (Sub Registrar, 30 Bays Building, Sector 17) — both tables undated/unnumbered, treat as checked 6 Sept 2026; Chandigarh collector rates rose 33.2% from 1 April 2026 (Sectors 1-12: Rs 2,37,900/sq yd). No gender concession is confirmed in either place. A sworn version is a Hon. Secretary affidavit, chargeable under Article 4, Schedule I-A — buy as e-stamp via SHCIL, Sewa Kendras (Punjab) or the Sub Registrar's counter (Chandigarh); no notification fixes the denomination, confirm on the day. An appeal under s.33, Punjab Apartment Ownership Act, 1995 needs a Rs 15 court-fee stamp (Rule 11(2), PAOR 1995). Clause 13's optional undertaking (not enforcing the charge against a purchaser) is arguably chargeable under the residuary agreement article — practice leaves it unstamped regardless; for certainty, the Collector can adjudicate under s.31, Indian Stamp Act, 1899 (Deputy Commissioner, Punjab/Chandigarh).

रजिस्ट्री

Not registrable — s.17, Registration Act, 1908 reaches only instruments creating/extinguishing property rights ≥Rs 100 (plus s.17(1A)/(2)); a ledger statement isn't one, but is admissible unregistered as the association's own statement (force: s.27(2), PAOA 1995). The association logs it in the outward register and places the transfer before the Board/Committee. Registrable instead: Punjab's conveyance deed of apartment — compulsory under s.16(1), PAOA 1995, in the Form 'C' register with a Form 'D' index (Rule 7, PAOR 1995); the transferee-particulars endorsement (s.14(4)) is itself compulsory, certified copy to the Competent Authority (s.16(4)); before the tehsil Sub-Registrar (99 tehsils, 81 sub-tehsils; DC is Registrar/Collector; NGDRS live in 22 districts). Chandigarh: Sub Registrar, U.T., 30 Bays Building, Sector 17 (ngdrs.chd.gov.in). Timing: (1) get this BEFORE the deed is presented — Chandigarh mutation auto-triggers from the Sub-Registrar since 2025, no later fix; a leasehold sale needs the Estate Officer's prior NOC (Town Hall Building, Sector 17-C, 160017) first. (2) File Punjab's Form 'A' undertaking within 90 days (Rule 4, PAOR 1995, Gazette Part 3, 1.12.1995) — free, two witnesses, most commonly missed. (3) STOP-SIGN: the Estate Officer's notice effective 10 Feb 2023 (after the Supreme Court's 10 Jan 2023 judgment, RWA v. UT Chandigarh) permits only four residential-dealing categories pending the Heritage Conservation Committee — a whole-property purchase by one person/family qualifies; a part-unit or non-family sale doesn't, stopping both transfer and mutation (CHB tenements, Chandigarh Apartment Rules 2001 apartments unaffected). Status unconfirmed as of 6 Sept 2026 — check before closing (clause 20 warns of this). Chandigarh co-op society: no conveyance — membership changes via Committee admission/share-certificate transfer, substitution to the Registrar, Co-op Societies, U.T. Chandigarh where earlier membership was surrendered/expelled/cancelled (RCS Memo Coop/HB/2KI/3890, 05.10.2001; letter 08.06.2006); land usually a 99-year lease under the 1991 Scheme (notified 28.05.1991).

नोटरी

Not required, normally inappropriate — weight comes from the seal and a committee resolution, and (Punjab AOA) s.27(2), PAOA 1995, capping liability; a notary only attests a signature, not the books. Some banks (Chandigarh resale-loan branches especially) still ask: if unavoidable, the Hon. Secretary signs and the notary attests under s.8(1)(a), Notaries Act, 1952 (Punjab notaries: State-appointed; U.T.: Centre), fee per Rule 10, Notaries Rules, 1956 (market Rs 100-500). For an NRI file or overseas probate needing apostille: MEA apostilles after pre-authentication by Punjab's or Chandigarh's Home Department; an unnotarised certificate can't be apostilled.

गवाह

No witnesses — not an executed instrument like a conveyance, gift or will (contrast the Form 'A' undertaking, filed within 90 days, which DOES need two — commonly confused with this). Internal authority replaces witnesses: (1) a Board/Committee resolution authorising issue, dated with an item number, in the minute book and printed on the certificate (clause 19) — a Secretary-only signature with no resolution is disownable; if clause 13's undertaking or the statutory-charge confirmation is included, check the cited resolution actually covers it, and that the Committee confirmed the area notification BEFORE authorising. (2) The Hon. Secretary's signature. (3) The President's/Chairperson's signature — usual, bank-preferred; add the Treasurer if the body has one. (4) The seal — its absence is the top reason certificates bounce at bank counters. Check the body's own bye-laws first — they override general practice. An AOA follows the Model Bye-laws, 1995 (Schedule to PAOR 1995); departures need the Competent Authority's approval under s.20(3). Model bye-law 6: an owner over 60 days in default is disqualified from Board election. A co-op society's own bye-laws name signatories; committee capped at 21 members, 5-year term under s.26, Punjab Co-operative Societies Act, 1961 (the Act's printed model: 7 members, 3 years) — the Registrar-approved bye-laws govern where they conflict.