Property Amalgamation

Introduction

What does amalgamation of properties mean?

Two or more than two adjacent properties of an owner(s) are merged to form a single property. On merging of properties, merged properties are removed from the assessment registers while the retaining property is modified to add the merged property(ies) dimensions. The retaining and merged properties relationship is maintained for future reference. The combination of properties for which amalgamation can be done is given below.

• Building + Building

• Building + Vacant Land

• Vacant Land + Vacant Land

How is the amalgamation of properties accomplished on the ground?

The amalgamation is considered a service and the owner(s) has to apply for it. A single application is created for the amalgamation of properties with details of all the properties and the required documents are produced in support of the application. There is no application/ processing fee associated with the amalgamation of properties.

Key Metrics

Below are state-wise approximate figures of amalgamation applications received and processed in a year.

Andhra Pradesh	[On basis of data available in the property tax system]	453
Punjab	[On the basis of application received manually]	3000
Uttarakhand	[On the basis of application received manually]	1500
Cantonment Boards	[On the basis of application received manually]	1000
Odisha	[On the basis of application received manually]	NA

Proposed Solution

How to achieve this with the DIGIT Platform?

1. A new application type ‘AMALGAMATION’ is created.

2. Application no. format is defined.

3. Only one application is created and the record of the same is maintained. All the properties involved in amalgamation are linked to that application.

4. Workflow components are integrated and the wf status of retaining and merge properties are maintained as ‘In Workflow’ while the application is in flow.

5. Though there are no instances observed where the application fee is charged for amalgamation, the applicability of the application fee is to be made configurable.

6. The uniqueness of the owner (Individual) is identified based on the below-given attributes.

   • Owner’s Name

   • Owner’s Gender

   • Owner’s Guardian Name

   • Relationship with Guardian

7. The uniqueness of the owner (Institutional) is identified based on the below-given attributes.

   • Institute Name

   • Institute Type

   • Authorised Person Name

8. No final document is generated as proof of amalgamation.

9. Applicant(s) is/are intimated through SMS/ email notifications about the status and completion of the application.

10. Any integration impact to be handled.

    • Water and sewerage connection with merging properties to be moved to retaining property or to be brought to closure.

    • Trade licenses associated with merging properties are to be moved to retaining property or to be brought to closure.

11. Modules linked with property tax have to expose the API to check the status of applications in respective modules associated with a property.

Validations

1. All the properties should be active properties, INACTIVE and WORKFLOW properties are not eligible for amalgamation.

2. There should be any application in flow for other services as well linked with a merging property. E.g. Water Connection, Sewerage Connection, and Trade License.

3. The owner (s) of the retaining property should always be a superset of the owner(s) of the merging property. It means there should not be a case where any owner of the merging property(ies) is not the one from the owners of the retaining property.

4. There should not be any due on the properties which are to be merged while there is no such condition for retaining property.

5. Dues related to water and sewerage charges for the connections associated with merging properties are not taken care of here.

6. The total land area of retaining property = Land area of retaining + Total land area of properties to be merged.

7. The total built-up area of retaining property = Built-up area of retaining + Total built-up area of properties to be merged.

8. Properties to be merged are deactivated on completion of the process while retaining property remains active.

9. Amalgamation will be effective from the date of approval of the application.

Integrations Impacts

Water and Sewerage

1. There should not be an application related to water connection linked with a merging property in the workflow.

2. In the case of water and sewerage connections associated with merging property to be moved to retaining property, it has to be achieved in the WnS module itself by modifying the connection.

3. In the case of water and sewerage connections associated with merging property to be closed, it has to be achieved in the WnS module itself by using closure connection activity.

Trade Licenses

1. In the case of trade licenses associated with merging properties to be moved to retaining property, it has to be achieved in the TL module itself on renewal of trade.

2. In the case of trade licenses associated with merging properties to be closed, it has to be achieved in the TL module itself by using the closure of trade features.

Accounting and Finance

Accounting entries are passed for these transactions in terms of demand modifications.

User Persona

As a <Role>	I want <What>	So that <Why>
Employee/Citizen	Search a property by unique property ID	I can create an application for amalgamation of property(ies)
Employee/Citizen	Search a property by owner’s mobile no.	I can create an application for amalgamation of property(ies)
Employee/Citizen	Search a property by owner’s name or by door no.	I can create an application for amalgamation of property(ies)
Employee/Citizen	Initiate new application for properties amalgamation	I can merge adjunct property(ies) into main property.
Citizen	Notification for my property amalgamation application	I can keep track of my application (notification sent will be according to workflow)
Employee (Workflow)	Amalgamation application in my inbox	I can take appropriate action on the application.
Employee	Search application	I can see the application details.
Citizen	My Applications	I can see the application details to keep track of the application.

Navigation

Employee

Login → Search Property → View Property Details → Select ‘Amalgamation’ Action

Citizen

Login → Amalgamation Menu → Search Property → Search Result → Select Property.

Application No. Format

Application No. should follow the given format. PT-<running sequence>

User Flow

Citizen/ Counter Employee - Application is initiated by citizen/ counter employee.

Document Verification - The application and documents attached to it are verified by a document verifier.

Field Inspection - The field inspector performs the field visit for the physical verification of properties.

Approval of Application - The application is approved by the approver and the changes requested in the application come into effect in case the application fee is not applicable.

Payment of application fee - In the case the application fee is applicable, the changes related to amalgamation come into effect only after the payment of the application fee.

Application Form

Field Name	Data Type	Is Mandatory?	Description
Property Address
Pincode	Display	Yes	Pincode of area property is located.
City	Display	Yes	City name of the property.
Locality/Mohalla	Display	Yes	Locality or mohalla name property is located.
Street Name	Display	Yes	Street name property is located.
Door No./House No.	Display	Yes	House or door no. of the property.
Ownership Details
Ownership Type	Display	Yes	Display of ownership type.
Institution Name	Display	Yes	It is applicable for the ownership type institution.
Institution Type	Display	Yes	It is applicable for the ownership type institution.
Name	Display	Yes	Name of the owner of property or the authorised person in case of institutional property.
Guardian Name	Display	Yes	Name of guardian and applicable for single and multiple ownership type only.
Gender	Display	Yes	Gender of owner/authorised person of the property.
Landline No.	Display	Yes	Office landline no. in case of institutional ownership.
Mobile No.	Display	Yes	Mobile no. of the owner/ authorised person.
Designation	Display	Yes	Designation of the authorised person
Email	Display	Yes	Email address of owner/ authorised person.
Corresponding Address	Display	Yes	Corresponding address of the owner/ authorised person.
Merge Propertie(s)
Property ID	Textbox	Yes	To search and add the property. A button with the label ‘Search and Add’.
Search Property	Hyperlink	Yes	To search the property by other params too and add it to the application.
Property 1
Property ID	Display	Yes	Unique Property ID.
Property Address	Display	Yes	Full address of property.
Property Owners	Display	Yes	Comma separated list of property owners.
View Property Details/Remove Property	Hyperlink	Yes	To view the completed property details/ remove the added property.
Assessment Details
Property Type	Drop-down	Yes	Type of property
Property Usage	Drop-down	Yes	Usage of property, residential, non-residential, or mixed.
Plot Size (In Sq Ft)	Textbox	Yes	Total area of land in square feet on which the property is constructed.
Unit 1
Floor No.	Drop-down	Yes	Floor no. unit is located.
Usage	Drop-down	Yes	Usage of unit, residential/ non-residential.
Sub-Usage	Drop-down	Yes	Sub-usage of unit, mandatory in case of non-residential usage.
Occupancy	Drop-down	Yes	The type of occupancy of property.
Annual Rent	Textbox	Yes	Annual rent in INR, in case property is rented out.
Built-up Area	Textbox	Yes	Built-up area of the unit in square feet.
Documents	File Picker	Yes	The documents required to process the request.
Timelines	Workflow	Yes	Display of workflow steps completed.

Workflow

Action	Role	From State	To State
Initiate Application	Citizen/ Counter Employee		Initiated
Submit Application	Citizen/ Counter Employee	Initiated	Pending for document verification
Verify and Forward	Document Verifier	Pending for document verification	Pending for field inspection
Verify and Forward	Field Inspector	Pending for field inspection	Pending approval for amalgamation
Send Back	Document Verifier	Pending for document verification	Pending for citizen action
Send Back	Field Inspector	Pending for field inspection	Pending for document verification
Send Back	Approver	Pending approval for amalgamation	Pending for field inspection
Send Back To Citizen	<roles having access>	<Current Status>	Pending for citizen action
Re-submit	Citizen/ Counter Employee	Pending for citizen action	Pending for document verification
Re-submit	Document Verifier	Pending for document verification	Pending for field inspection
Re-submit	Field Inspector	Pending for field inspection	Pending approval for amalgamation
Approve	Approver	Pending approval for amalgamation	Approved
Reject	<roles having access>	<Current Status>	Rejected

Wireframes

Please click here to see the wireframes in Figma.

Screenshots are attached below.

Citizen (Mobile First)

Apply for amalgamation

Login into the account (If not already logged in)

Select retaining the property for amalgamation

The user will be displayed all the properties currently linked with the logged-in account and allowed to select one of them as a retaining property.

The retaining property address and ownership details is displayed on apply.

Select a property to merge

The user will be displayed a list of all those properties which are owned by him/ her as a single owner or joint owner and allowed to select a property based on the below conditions.

• The owner(s) of the merging property should be a subset of the owner(s) of the retaining property.

• There should not be any dues on the property.

• The property should be active property, also there should not be any application in flow for an integrated module associated with the property.

• The property should belong to the same locality as the retaining property.

Modify the assessment details of retaining property

• Property Type

• Plot Size

• Number of basements

• Number of floors

Unit details

• Usage

• Sub-usage

• Occupancy

• Built-up Area

• Annual Rental

In case the property type is ‘Flat’, flat details are modified.

In the case property type is vacant land, vacant land details are modified.

Documents attachment and summary of the application

Employee

Apply for amalgamation

Property is searched and property details are viewed.​​​​

Select the action ‘Amalgamate Property’ from the action list.​​​​​​​​​​

Use Case Scenarios

UC 1 - Same Owner’s Residential Properties

There are two properties A and B, both are residential in nature and belong to the same owner “xyz”.

Illustration: Suppose A is the retaining property while B has to be merged with A.

• Property A address remains unchanged.

• Property A ownership details remain unchanged.

So assessment details of property A are modified according to the assessment details of B. Below given are the activities which can be performed to modify the assessment detail of property A.

• The land area of A is increased to include B into A.

• One more UNIT is added to A representing B.

• An additional floor is added to A representing B.

• The existing UNIT area of A is increased.

• The existing UNIT rental value of A is increased.

• The remaining attributes would remain unchanged. Like Usage, Sub Usage, and Occupancy. Though these also can be edited if required.

Property B is linked with the application which is deactivated on completion.

UC 2 - Same Owner’s Mixed Properties

There are two properties A and B, A is residential while B is non-residential and belongs to the same owner “xyz”.Illustration: Suppose A is the retaining property while B has to be merged with A.

• Property A address remains unchanged.

• Property A ownership details remain unchanged.

• So assessment details of property A are modified according to the assessment details of B. Below given are the activities which can be performed to modify the assessment detail of property A.

  • The land area of A is increased to include B into A.

  • Property usage is changed to Mixed.

  • One more UNIT is added to A representing B and UNIT usage and sub-usage is kept according to property B, commercial in this case.

  • An additional floor is added to A representing B.

  • The existing UNIT area of A is increased.

  • The existing UNIT rental value of A is increased.

• Property B is linked with the application which is deactivated on completion.

UC 3 - Solo Owner Of One Property And Joint Of Others

There are two properties A and B, “xyz” is the only owner of property A while he/she is the joint owner of property B.Illustration:

• In case, property B is the retaining property, property A is merged according to usage cases #1 and #2.

• In case, property A is the retaining property, property B is first mutated in the name of the owners of property A using the mutation process.

UC 4 - Properties Of Two Different Owners

There are two properties A and B, the owner of property A is “xyz” while the owner of property B is “def”.Illustration:

• In case A is going to be retaining property, property B is to be first mutated in the name of “xyz” using the mutation process.

• In case B is going to be retaining property, property A to be first mutated in the name of “def” using the mutation process.

There are two properties A and B, the owner of property A is “xyz” which is institutional ownership while the owner of property B is “def” which is individual ownership.

• It is a similar case to #4, and the property is to be mutated first to initiate amalgamation.