BBMP to resume sanctioning building plans from Nov 18

The state government has notified an amendment allowing municipal corporations to collect various charges for building plan sanctions

The BBMP will resume sanctioning building plans from Thursday, nearly three months after a high court directive halted the process.

On Tuesday, the state government notified an amendment to the Karnataka Municipal Corporations Act and Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) Act, allowing municipal corporations to collect various charges for building plan sanctions.

The amendment has come in the wake of a Karnataka High Court judgement that the BBMP bylaws, under which ground rent, licence fee, building licence fee, security fee, security deposit fee, and other charges collected from landowners and real estate developers are contrary to the provisions of the KMC Act.

It is also expected to safeguard the BBMP from refunding Rs 2,000 crore deposited by landowners for obtaining various building approvals.

After the judgment, new approvals for the construction of commercial and residential buildings had come to a halt in the city over the last three months as officials did not want to lose revenue.

The BBMP’s Town Planning Department said it would resume issuing building plans by Thursday. The officer did not, however, provide the number of applications pending in the department following the high court order.

As per the amendment, the commissioner has been empowered to collect all types of fees pertaining to building plans, including the fee for commencement certificate and occupancy certificate. The BBMP can penalise the landowner for not obtaining the commencement certificate.

There is also a provision to levy penalty for regularisation up to 5 per cent of violation or deviation in the construction with respect to the sanctioned plan or zonal regulation limit.

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