Karnataka: Bill proposes to levy 1% fire cess on new high-rise buildings

New high-rise buildings in the state will have to pay an additional 1 per cent of the property tax as fire cess, according to a new Bill approved by the Cabinet on Thursday. 

Structures with a height of over 21 metres are considered high-rise buildings. The Karnataka Fire Force (Amendment) Bill, 2025, seeks to amend section 15 of the Karnataka Fire Force Act, 1964.

“This cess will be collected from high-rise buildings, hospitals, industrial companies and so on,” Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister H K Patil told reporters.        

The move was announced in the 2024-25 Budget to “increase efficiency in the Fire and Emergency Department.” 

“The fire cess shall be levied in the form of a surcharge at the rate of one per cent on the property tax of newly constructed multi-storied buildings (high-rise buildings) as defined in section 13 of the Act, with effect from the date of commencement of the Karnataka Fire Force (Amendment) Act, 2023,” the amendment states.   

However, no cess shall be levied on buildings owned by the state and central governments or any public authority owned by the state or the Union governments.

Bangalore South BJP MP L S Tejasvi Surya slammed the government’s move, accusing the government of seeming determined to “choke the city’s future with misplaced policies and short-sighted populism.” 

Buffer zones of lakes

The Cabinet also approved the Karnataka Tank Conservation and Development Authority (Amendment) Bill, 2025. 

The Bill seeks to amend the buffer zones of lakes according to the size of the lakes so as to allow construction, commercial, recreational and industrial activities.

The buffer zone will be down to 3 metres from the boundary of a lake measuring up to one acre. It’ll be 6 metres for lakes sized 1-10 acres, 12 metres for lakes sized 10-25 acres, 24 metres for lakes sized 25-100 metres and 30 metres for lakes above 100 acres.

The government also approved the Karnataka State Private Medical Institutions (Amendment) Bill, 2025. The bill seeks to regulate ambulance service personnel and mandates mobile medical units to register as private medical institutions.

The Cabinet also decided to provide a relaxation in the payment of the lease amount to Ranga Shankara trust. It mandated Ranga Shankara to pay 25 per cent of the lease amount as mandated by the Bengaluru Development Authority. 

The Cabinet decided to place the Karnataka platform-based gig workers (social security and welfare) bill, 2025, in the upcoming Monsoon Session of the Legislature. It was also decided to place the Prohibition of Child Marriage Bill, 2025, in the session. The Bill proposes to criminalise child engagements too.