Assembly passes TS-bPASS

Enables self-certification by landowners and developers for building permissions

The State government has decided to put in place an effective mechanism to enable instant permission and registration of buildings avoiding hassles to land owners or property developers.

The decision comes in view of the plight of the common man, wishing to build a house for himself, being harassed by the time consuming process at present. The existing system has put too much discretion in the hands of municipal town planning authorities in view of which Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao advocated 100% transparency in according building approval in a time-bound manner minimising the need for personal interaction with town planning authorities.

The Legislative Assembly on Monday passed the Telangana State Building Permission Approval and Self Certification System (TS-bPASS). Piloting the Bill, Municipal Administration Minister K.T. Rama Rao said no permission would be required for houses being constructed in area below 75 sq.yds and instant permission would be accorded to buildings being constructed in areas between 75 sq.yds and 600 sq.yds through TS-bPASS subject to a few conditions.

Land owners/developers need to submit applications for permissions online and it was the responsibility of the concerned officials to give approval within 21 days. “If no order is issued on the building application within the time prescribed, then the approval will be deemed to have been issued,” he said.

The official concerned would be liable for disciplinary action if there was delay on his part in arriving at a decision within the specified time. At the same time, permission issued under the deemed clause could be revoked by the Commissioner within 21 days from the date of approval if it was found that the approval had been obtained by misrepresentation of facts or false statements, and/or against building rules, regulations and master plan land use provisions.

The owner/developer should submit an application online along with the self-certification attested by licensed technical personnel declaring that the development in the layout was as per norms. The developer should also register all the roads and open spaces in the layout in favour of the municipality which was a pre-condition to get the final approval.

Responding to the concerns expressed by members, KTR said several safeguards, safety clauses, have been incorporated in the legislation to avoid misuse. The owner/developer along with the application form should submit an undertaking that in case of violations, the commissioner or the agency authorised by him/her should take up demolition without issuance of any notice. “The commissioner or the agency authorised by him should take up the demolition of unlawfully executed work and recover the cost incurred for doing so from the owner,” he said.

A State level TS-bPASS committee consisting of Municipal Administration secretary as chairman and the Municipal Administration director as member-convenor with heads of departments of relevant departments as members would be constituted. In respect of GHMC, there would be task forces headed by the Zonal Commissioners for each zone to monitor the construction activities while similar committees headed by district collectors would be constituted in districts.

“Three years of study of the system has revealed that 95.15 % people, particularly the poor and middle class, are taking up constructions in less than 600 sq.yds and hence, the legislation to provide them hassle-free approvals,” he said.