Balbir Sidhu: Cooperative housing notification anti-people, middle class being targeted
Babushahi Bureau
Chandigarh, January 17, 2026: Former Punjab Health Minister S. Balbir Singh Sidhu has strongly criticised the recent notification issued by the Punjab Government regarding Cooperative Housing Societies, terming it a “complete betrayal” of lakhs of residents who invested their lifetime savings in these societies relying on legal protections under the Punjab Cooperative Societies Act, 1961.
In a statement, Sidhu said that under the original provisions of the Cooperative Societies Act, no registration or stamp duty was required for allotment or transfer of property within cooperative housing societies. This legal assurance formed the foundation on which thousands of societies were established and people purchased homes in good faith.
He alleged that the present government has now amended the Act and imposed heavy stamp duty and registration charges, granting exemption only to the first allottee and offering partial relief of just 1 to 3 percent stamp duty to subsequent buyers — and that too only until March 31, 2026. Sidhu described the move as an attempt to extract maximum revenue from innocent residents, most of whom belong to the middle-class and senior citizen categories.
The former minister further pointed out that cooperative housing societies themselves have been denied any meaningful relief and are being forced to pay 8 percent stamp duty on current market rates, calling the decision unjust, impractical and anti-people.
Highlighting ground realities, Sidhu said that in most cooperative societies, houses have already changed hands multiple times over the years. He questioned why present legal owners should be penalised for transactions that were fully legal and did not require registration or stamp duty at the time of purchase.
Raising specific demands, Sidhu urged the Punjab Government to treat the present legal owner as the first owner for exemption purposes, irrespective of how many times the property has changed hands. He also demanded that cooperative housing societies be allowed to levy 1–2 percent No Dues or Transfer Charges to maintain internal infrastructure such as roads, parks and sewerage systems.
Additionally, he called for a minimum one-year window for registration to allow residents sufficient time to arrange funds and avoid distress payments. He also demanded that societies be permitted to register their land at the original allotment price so that real relief reaches residents instead of merely increasing government revenue.
“The cooperative housing model was meant to provide affordable and secure housing, not to become a revenue-generating tool for the state,” Sidhu said, urging the Punjab Government to immediately review the notification and stand with the people rather than against them.