Residents hassled after DDA freezes leasehold-to-freehold conversions

The authority adopted new circle rates notified by the Delhi government for determining conversion charges and other land-related fees.

Days after the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) placed the leasehold-to-freehold conversion process on hold, a group of applicants has submitted a formal public grievance to DDA and the Union ministry of housing and urban affairs (MoHUA), seeking time-bound processing of pending applications and a public clarification on the status of stalled cases.

Residents hassled after DDA freezes leasehold-to-freehold conversions

The grievance, submitted by residents and commercial property owners across Delhi,alleged: “Despite provisions for processing pre-January 1 cases, there is no operational clarity on timelines or ground-level implementation. A public standard operating procedure (SOP), stage-wise continuation of processing and definite timelines for execution of conveyance deeds should be announced. Acceptance of fresh applications under notified rates should also resume at the earliest.”

DDA did not respond to HT’s request for a comment on the matter.

According to an order issued by DDA’s land disposal department on January 9, the authority adopted new circle rates notified by the Delhi government for determining conversion charges and other land-related fees.

The order states that the receipt of fresh applications for freehold conversion would remain on hold with effect from January 2, 2026, until further directions. However, applications received up to January 1 where conversion fees had already been deposited, were to be processed further at pre-January 2 rates.

A subsequent order dated January 19 superseded the earlier directive but retained the suspension of fresh freehold applications with effect from January 2. The revised order also directed that DDA’s systems department take action concerning the interactive disposal of land information (IDLI) portal used for processing freehold cases.

Paras Tyagi, founder and president of the Centre for Youth Culture Law and Environment, said the applicants whose cases had been filed before January 1 were seeking explanations for delays.

“The lack of information has created confusion among applicants and intermediaries in the property market. DDA officials have indicated that a new policy would be communicated after a board meeting and that the matter is under review to determine revised rates, but nothing has been clarified, leading to a policy paralysis,” claimed Tyagi.