New law for power, sanitary connections to buildings sans plan sanction in Karnataka

Bengaluru: Karnataka will introduce new legislation to provide electricity connections to buildings that were constructed without obtaining sanctioned plans both in urban and rural areas.

The law is aimed at bypassing the Supreme Court judgment that made Occupancy Certificates (OC) mandatory for essential services such as sanitary and electricity connections.

The decision on the new legislation was taken at a state Cabinet meeting held on September 18 but remained under the wraps for long.

In his note, Energy Department Additional Chief Secretary Gaurav Gupta proposed providing one-time relaxation to plots and existing buildings of all sizes in availing of electricity connections purely based on ownership records. The note pointed out that lakhs of property owners were affected because of the court judgment passed in December 2024.

After discussions, the Cabinet decided to take the legislative route to bypass the landmark judgment. The special legislation is expected to provide clarity on the extent of plots and built-up areas that will benefit from the move.

The government had exempted buildings which are constructed or will be constructed on up to 1,200 square feet of land from applying for OCs. This will help property owners avail of water, electricity and sanitary connections even if the buildings have been constructed without following the norms.

DH has learnt that about 35,000 applicants are awaiting electricity connections and about 10,000 water connections in Bengaluru alone.

In addition, the Cabinet also decided to provide relief to building owners who did not follow rules and regulations. It has directed the departments concerned to frame revised rules and regulations that can be tabled in the Legislative Assembly. The government plans to collect fines and regularise unauthorised construction rampant in cities like Bengaluru. 

Suhas Ananth Rajkumar, an advocate who is currently not practising the profession, noted that the Cabinet decisions “completely violate the Supreme Court orders. 

“This seems like an attempt to quickly approve all electricity connections for existing applicants. The one-time relaxation is not allowed by the SC order. The government has also not mentioned a cut-off date for this one-time relaxation,” he said. 

Rajkumar further said the government was trying to bring back the Akrama Sakrama scheme for all electricity companies.

A Banashankari resident urged the government to reconsider the decisions, stating that the building violations are not just contributing to the decline of city’s quality of life but are also creating a whole lot of other problems, including traffic congestion.