No Dues Certificate Application (Chandigarh Estate Office Annexure-1 and the CHB NDC)

Stamp duty

The application itself bears no stamp duty or court fee — not an instrument under section 2(14), Stamp Act, 1899; the department's processing fee (via Pay Your Dues) is separate. The Annexure B/B-1 affidavits DO carry duty under Article 4, Schedule I-A — nominal, but buy a separate sheet per deponent (a joint holder means two); an e-Stamp via e-Sampark covers it (Rs 500 citizen cap), or get a binding figure by adjudication from the Collector (Treasury Officer) under s.31/42. The deed this certificate leads to: stated at 5% of consideration/value (TREAT AS UNSETTLED — portals widely say 6%; confirm at the Sub-Registrar, 30 Bays Building), registration fee 1% capped at Rs 10,000 plus Rs 20 pasting. Blood-relation transfers are duty-exempt (fee still applies); family settlement 2%; exchange 3%; lease-right transfer 3%; agreement to sell 5% of token money; GPA with sale power 3% (plain GPA Rs 75/150, SPA Rs 15); will nil duty. Duty is on the higher of consideration or the collector rate, revised sharply across sectors from 1 April 2026 — get the current figure. Rule 15 puts duty/fee on the transferee; no gender concession exists, despite portal claims. This is Chandigarh-specific — Punjab's development authorities (GMADA, GLADA etc.) run their own rates and forms entirely.

Registration

The application isn't registrable — section 17, Registration Act, 1908 doesn't reach a request to certify a ledger; no Sub-Registrar will take it. Instead: an Estate Office property goes to the Dues Branch (15 days); a Chandigarh Housing Board flat to the Board's Accounts Officer (also 15 days, its own Charter) — confirm calendar vs working days at the counter. Both clocks run only from a complete application; take the diary number/RTS acknowledgment before leaving. Related services run on their own clocks: transfer NOC 50 days, change of ownership 30, mortgage permission 35, conversion to freehold 35, occupation certificate 45-60 days. What IS registrable is the deed that follows — presented at the Sub-Registrar, 30 Bays Building (triplicate for freehold, narrow presentation/registration hours). Since 2025, registration auto-triggers mutation digitally — no separate application, Branch Clerk scrutiny in 2 hours (leasehold+NOC) or 4 (freehold) — so this certificate, the transfer NOC, and any unearned-increase proof must ALL be right at the counter on the day; there's no later stage to cure a defect. A Chandigarh Housing Board unit is mutated separately by the Board, on its own record — don't file at the wrong counter. Two things stop a file dead: anything executed abroad needs embossing by the Chandigarh Finance Department first; and the Estate Officer's 10 February 2023 Public Notice, which continues mutation for deeds registered before 10 January 2023 but otherwise permits only four transfer categories (within-family, family wills, 100%-to-one-family purchases, single-family co-owner plans) — everything else is STOPPED pending the Heritage Conservation Committee's decision, and whether that freeze has lifted is unconfirmed. Ask before any money changes hands.

Notarisation

The application itself isn't notarised — just signed with a verification at the foot. The Annexure B/B-1 affidavits ARE sworn — a notary is now accepted in place of an Executive Magistrate; check the endorsement carries the notary's register serial number and date before leaving. Don't over-swear: check the current checklist and what's already on the Estate Office's file before adding affidavits beyond what's asked. A deponent abroad needs embossing by the Chandigarh Finance Department first — build in 3-4 weeks, since a missed registration appointment matters more now that auto-mutation gives no later chance to cure it. Joint holders each swear separately (Annexure B for the applicant, B-1 for the joint holder) — a single affidavit for two signers is accepted at some counters and refused at others. An attorney swears only to facts within their own knowledge and to what the records show — not that 'the property stands in my name,' which would be false.

Witnesses

No witnesses on the application — not an instrument between parties. Every joint holder must sign AND swear (one certificate covers the whole property; a signature missing from even one leaves the application incomplete). An attorney signs only with the power produced (embossed first if executed abroad; registered, not merely notarised, for a sale). A legal heir applies only after mutation to their name; a Housing Board transfer needs the purchaser's signature too (Regulation 16). The affidavits have no witnesses either — the notary's endorsement is the attestation. The rule that bites later, at the deed: two witnesses at registration, the first qualifying under paragraph 127, Punjab Registration Manual, known to each other and to the Sub-Registrar — line one up early. Leave the counter only with the stamped acknowledgment slip, diary number and date — the sole proof of a complete application, and what every appeal is counted from.