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Akrama-Sakrama Regularization Scheme May Take another Six Months

Monday, January 18th, 2010

with the Governor, H.R.Bhardwaj, suggesting a thorough discussion on the issue on the floor of the Legislature, the hopes and aspirations of a large number of Bangaloreans to utilize the Akrama-Sakrama scheme and thus legalize their dwelling unit continues to remain a distant dream.

The much-touted scheme of the ruling BJP aimed at pleasing Bangaloreans has thus hit a roadblock right away with the Opposition parties keen on a full-fledged discussion on the subject which is likely only in the budget session of the State Legislature in March. Sources in the two main Opposition parties in the two Houses of the Karnataka Legislature, the Congress and the Janata Dal (Secular), told The Hindu that they are happy with the decision of the Governor to refrain from promulgating an ordinance.

“In 2004, the Governor T N Chaturvedi returned the ordinance with this message and then the government took three years to rectify and following objections the law was passed. It was also challenged in the Karnataka High Court which had stayed it. So how do you expect me to bypass both the legislature and judiciary?” asked Governor, H.R.Bhardwaj.

“It is an important subject which involves the lives of several lakhs of people. There has to be a full-fledged discussion on the Karnataka Town Planning (amendment) Bill.”

The two main Opposition parties in the two Houses were not per se against the Akrama-Sakrama scheme but were keen on a detailed discussion. It should be ensured that the scheme is only for the benefit of the common people and not for safeguard the interests of the real estate developers or commercial builders who have indulged in gross violations of building bye-laws.

The number of unauthorized constructions in the State has swelled with every passing year and what was four lakh when the regularization scheme was first proposed in 2004 has now touched nearly 13 lakh of which 10 lakh is in Bangalore alone.

Given the nature of the reply given by the Governor to the proposal of the State Cabinet to promulgate an ordinance, the regularization scheme is expected to be implemented well after the elections to the council of the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike scheduled to be gone through on February 21. People will, however, have a year’s time to apply for regularization from the date of commencement of the process, although the cut-off date for regularisation has been fixed — December 3, 2009 — the date on which the State Cabinet approved the scheme.

Link to Refer:
The Hindu

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Akrama-Sakrama will take some time

Monday, December 14th, 2009

An estimated seven lakh property owners in Bangalore are looking forward to regularization of unauthorized constructions as part of the Akrama-Sakrama scheme approved by the Cabinet on Thursday. However, their hopes of early notification of the scheme may be dashed as it entails amendment of the Town and Country Planning Act.

“Akrama-Sakrama provisions cannot be indefinite because it will encourage unauthorised constructions in future,” said the official.Senior officials of the Urban Development Department said the Legislature, scheduled to meet from December 14, was expected to debate the proposed amendments in the form of a Bill.”A notification can be issued only after the Bill approved by the Legislature is ratified by the Governor,” said an official.

The notification can also be delayed if the State Election Commission announces the calendar of events for the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) elections. In such a case, the scheme can be implemented only after the elections.

Reference:

The Hindu

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Sakrama to benefit 12 lakh properties

Friday, December 4th, 2009

The government hopes to collect a whopping Rs 5,000 crore as fine from the scheme in Bangalore city alone. Apart from penalty, there will be a substantial increase in the revenues of urban local bodies as all these illegal constructions would come under the tax net from next year.

The revised Akrama-Sakrama scheme, which was approved by the state Cabinet on Thursday, will benefit about seven lakh properties in Bangalore and about five lakh properties in other cities. Stating that the scheme was a one-time opportunity to get building violations regularised, Transport Minister R Ashok said he had recommended to the government not to encourage violations in future and initiate criminal proceedings on both property owners and BBMP officials. He has also recommended setting up of an authority to check violations and encroachments in future.

Former BMP mayor M Ramchandrappa said that the government has failed to take people into confidence before taking a final call on the revision of the Akrama Sakrama scheme. People have been kept in dark and they are not aware of the happenings related to the scheme, he said. However, we need to look into what revisions have been made in the scheme to further comment on this, he added. The government is only fooling people with the scheme. “How would they reduce it to 50 percent, when the scheme itself was never implemented? The new legislature is far from the people’s requirement,he added.

The revised Akrama-Sakrama scheme, which was approved by the state Cabinet on Thursday.The revised Akrama-Sakrama scheme will benefit about seven lakh properties in Bangalore and about five lakh properties in other cities. The government hopes to collect a whopping Rs 5,000 crore as fine from the scheme in Bangalore city alone.Transport Minister R Ashok recommended setting up of an authority to check violations and encroachments in future.He had recommended to initiate criminal proceedings on both property owners and BBMP officials.

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The Akrama Sakrama Scheme will come up before the next Cabinet Meeting

Monday, November 16th, 2009

The Akrama Sakrama building regularization scheme will come up before the next Cabinet meeting for approval. According to an estimate, in Bangalore there are around 5 lakh illegal properties. Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa said there are 8 lakh assessed properties and that the government can easily raise Rs 5,000 crore from the regularization drive.

The Akrama-Sakrama sub-committee headed by transport minister R Ashoka recently made a recommnedation to the government in this regard. B S Yeddyurappa said “after the Bill is adopted in the legislature, people will be given adequate time to apply for regularizing illegal buildings.” The draft Bill on the regularization of illegal sites and buildings will take up at the next Cabinet meeting.

Reference:

Sakrama to come up before Cabinet this week

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New Akrama Scheme is likely to earn an additional Rs 1000 cr

Thursday, October 15th, 2009

The government plans to regularize all unauthorized layouts and housing sites developed before December 31, 2009 as against December 31, 2008. In the run-up to the BBMP polls, the government drastically slashed penalties from 20% to 8% for residential building and 25% to 20% for commercial buildings.

Continuing its efforts to fill its empty coffers and also with an eye on the upcoming BBMP polls, the state government on Wednesday indicated that the Akrama-Sakrama scheme will take a definite shape within a week.The cabinet sub-committee for regularisation of unauthorised constructions decided to issue a notification soon.

Initially, the revenue target was Rs 4,000 crore from this scheme.Now, with the extension of deadline it is likely to earn an additional Rs 1000 crore.The Akrama-Sakrama scheme was originally formulated during former chief minister H D Kumaraswamy’s regime but could not be implemented following strong opposition from people over high penalty rates.The then government had amended the Karnataka Town and Country Planning Act to introduce the regularisation as a one-time measure.

Links to refer

apartment-bangalore.com/bank-loans-for-sakrama-penalty

timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bangalore/New-Akrama-scheme-could-mop-up-Rs-1000-more

www.commonfloor.com/articles

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Regularization of Unauthorized Property under Akrama-Sakrama Scheme

Thursday, September 24th, 2009

The Akrama-Sakrama Scheme, formulated during the H.D. Kumaraswamy government in 2007, could not be implemented following strong protest and severe criticism against regularizing the structures that violated the building bye-laws and the high penalty rates. The Cabinet Subcommittee, which met on Tuesday, has recommended slashing of penalty rates. The Akrama-Sakrama is expected to be ready for implementation in about a month from now, as the BBMP has to also finalize the penalties.

The Akrama-Sakrama Scheme regularize the property by imposing penalty on property that are either constructed violating building bye-law or purchased land outside the erstwhile city corporation limits. The scheme involved the payment of one time penalty by property ranging between Rs. 5,000 (for minor violations) to Rs. 2.10 lakh.

Regularization of unauthorized apartment

In case of regularizing an apartment, only the apartment owners association is authorized to apply for regularization and not individual apartment owners. If the association does not apply for regularization, then the supply of water and electricity is liable to be disconnected after issue of notice. An apartment coming up in an area allocated for parking cannot be regularized at all. If the application for regularization is not considered, then the fees will be refunded.

What Akrama-Sakrama Scheme means

If the violations in residential buildings in BBMP limits are within 25 per cent, penalty will be 6 per cent of the guidance value of that particular locality. If violations are more than 25 per cent, then penalty is 8 per cent. For commercial property violations within 25 per cent in BBMP limits, fines will be 20 per cent while for violations more than 25 per cent, fines will be 35 per cent.

Authorities cannot go above the fixed rate while collecting penalties though they can reduce it. The meeting also said violations in residential buildings should not be more than 50 per cent, while putting a cap of 25 per cent for commercial buildings. The earlier rule had considered 15 per cent and 20 per cent of the guidance value for residential building violations (within and more than 25 per cent violations), while it was 25 per cent and 40 per cent of the guidance value for commercial property violations.

Conditions for Regularization

The penalty will be based on the location of the unauthorized structure in a given zone. However, building law violations should be not more than 50 per cent for residential structures and 25 per cent for commercial buildings. Unauthorized constructions on government properties, parks and footpaths will be ineligible for regularization under the scheme. Further, people could seek regularization over a six-month period as against the earlier three-month period.

The Cabinet Subcommittee has recommended slashing of penalty rates applicable under the earlier Akrama-Sakrama Scheme by nearly 50 per cent. The Legislative Assembly recently adopted the Karnataka Land Revenue (second amendment) Bill 2009 which seeks to regularize all unauthorized layouts and housing sites developed prior to December 31, 2008.

Recommended Penalty

The penalty that the owner of a building on an unauthorized residential site measuring 20 feet by 30 feet will vary between Rs. 30,000 and Rs. 45,000 compared to the Rs. 72,000 which was fixed earlier. For 30 feet by 40 feet unauthorized site, the penalty will range between Rs. 60,000 and Rs. 90,000 compared to the Rs. 1.62 lakh fixed earlier. For a site measuring 40 feet by 60 feet, the penalty will vary between Rs. 1.80 lakh and Rs. 2.10 lakh compared to the Rs. 4.23 lakh suggested earlier. The penalties, which were earlier roughly 15 per cent of the guideline values of the properties, have now been reduced to 8 per cent.

The estimation is that there are nearly seven lakh unauthorized structures in Bangalore alone. The Akrama-Sakrama is expected to be ready for implementation in about a month from now, as the BBMP has to also finalize the penalties based on the residential and commercial zones.

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