Pay betterment charge, 'own' your property

Paving the way for regularisation of land converted for residential purposes, the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has started collecting betterment charges from July 1.

The Palike estimated that this will benefit at least three lakh property owners in the BBMP limits, who have been issued a ‘B’ Khatha, which means that they are merely the holders of the property in BBMP records and not the owners.

Once the betterment charges are paid, the Palike will issue ‘A’ Khathas for such properties and declare the property holders as owners in its records. The ‘A’ Khatha also enables property owners to avail loans from nationalised banks and get building plan sanctioned by the Palike.

The BBMP has fixed Rs 200 per square metre betterment fee for the properties converted by DC’s in core Bangalore areas under three BBMP zones of East, West and South. For the remaining five zones of Yelahanka, Bommanahalli, Mahadevapura, Dasarahalli and Rajarajeshwari Nagar, encompassing 110 villages, four CMCs and one TMC, the betterment charges are Rs 250 per square metre. 

It is roughly estimated that the betterment charges for a 1,200 sq ft property in core Bangalore would be Rs 22,300.

For 2,400 sq ft property, the fee would be doubled. In the newly added areas in five BBMP zones which lack amenities, the betterment fee for a 1,200 sq ft property would be 27,900 while for a 2,400 sq ft property, the fee would be double the amount.
The Palike issued a circular to this effect on July 1 and listed six categories of properties for which betterment charges would be collected. 

The categories are properties converted for residential purpose, land divided after DC conversion and building plan sanctioned by the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA), residential areas developed by the Karnataka Industrial Area Development Board (KIADB), Karnataka Small Scale Industries Development Corporation (KSSIDC) and Karnataka Housing Board (KHB) where civic amenities have not been provided, land acquired by the KIADB for single unit industry and handed over to the industry, seeking khatha on land regularised under Section 94 (C) of the Karnataka Land Revenue Act, and areas under the BDA re-conveyance project where no development works have been undertaken. 

The Palike hopes to raise Rs 250 crore to Rs 300 crore revenue from the betterment fee, which will be utilised for carrying out development works in the areas where ‘A’ Khathas have been issued.