BBMP set to do away with 'B' khata; all properties in Bengaluru to have same document

The April 13 decision, BBMP officials, said will unleash the process of fixing a tariff that will be levied on properties built on revenue sites

Over 6.16 lakh revenue sites may finally be able to obtain an ‘A’ khata certificate from the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) by paying betterment charges.

A high-level meeting, headed by Chief Secretary P Ravi Kumar, directed the civic body to issue khata and property identification number (PID) to all properties in Bengaluru. The directive, which follows a budgetary announcement, is expected to make ‘B’ khata certificate redundant.

In common parlance, all property owners – who have built houses on revenue land – will be able to lay hands on the prized ‘A’ khata certificate that automatically pushes up the land value, or become eligible for bank loans. The directive does not, however, regularise properties that have violated the “sanctioned plan”.

The chief secretary’s directive, according to proceedings of the April 13 meeting, banks on the high court judgement (Writ petition number 6734-6751/2013) and the provisions of BBMP Act 2020.

“Section 358 of the BBMP Act, 2020 provides for BBMP to declare expenses on certain works as improvement expenses and section 359 provides for recovery of such charges in installments,” according to the copy of the proceedings, accessed by DH.

The April 13 decision, BBMP officials, said will unleash the process of fixing a tariff (improvement expenses as BBMP calls it) that will be levied on properties built on revenue sites. The BBMP, in its budget for 2022-23, had estimated revenue of Rs 1,000 crore by converting ‘B’ khata properties into ‘A’ khata.

Chief Secretary Ravi Kumar told DH the decision has nothing to do with regularisation of buildings. “We will issue khatas to all properties, irrespective of whether the building is authorised or unauthorised. This is clearly stated in one of the high court orders,” he said. The BBMP Act too, he said, does not speak about khatas in two formats (A or B). “Khata can be issued for all properties in the same format. There is a separate register for authorised and unauthorised buildings.”

The meeting also discussed implications of the interim stay granted by the Supreme Court (in July 2017) on regularisation of unauthorised developments, commonly known as Akrama Sakrama. The officers decided not to regularise illegal constructions until the final judgement of the SC.

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