Hassle-free online system for building approvals on the anvil

Come May 15, and Mumbai developers warily making their way to the BMC’s much-maligned building proposal department that disburses the commencement certificate and other approvals needed to begin a project, may be in for a pleasant surprise with the department’s brand-new professional avatar.

In what could be termed as his parting gift to the city, outgoing civic chief Sitaram Kunte had directed the department vide a 21-page circular to commence on a trial basis the online single window application of building proposals by the end of April.

May 15, 2015 is the day when the BMC intends to make the new streamlined system permanent.

As per the circular issued to the department, the objective is to simplify the entire permit process by removing avoidable procedures, thereby reducing the time taken significantly. The new system involves reducing the procedural delays in inter-departmental clearances by half, cutting down the time taken by approx 60 percent.

The circular further advocates the setting up of a fully online system to enable single-window clearances for developers seeking approvals, as a potential long term solution to further streamline the entire process.

If implemented, developers will no longer have to wait upto six months to secure clearances, since all proposals will be processed together in addition to acquiring the multiple building concessions. Preliminary sanction including the Intimation of disapproval and commencement certificate will be given simultaneously while the OC and building completion certificate will be issued within a fortnight of making the application and completion of all required formalities.

The move is already being viewed as a game changer among the city’s developer community who have long since complained about the enormous amount of time, money and energy required to secure the mandatory clearances prior to commencing their projects. According to a recent study, a suburban developer had to run around as many as 84 times to 14 different places within the BMC to pay premium and scrutiny fees for a single building project.

Some of the key departments that a developer has to secure permissions / clearances from prior to starting his project include: the local ward office, garden department, fire brigade department, hydraulic engineer's department, roads and traffic department, development plan department, assessment department, storm water drain department and the tree authority department, among others.

The building proposal department has a long-standing reputation for corrupt practices and procedural hassles with developers more often than not having to pay huge amounts of money to get their projects cleared. Interestingly enough, it is also the BMC’s second-largest revenue earner (after Octroi), having garnered a whopping INR 5,000 crore in the form of premiums and fees from Mumbai's developers in 2014 alone.

The World Bank's 2014 report on "Dealing with Construction Permits" has ranked India 184th out of 189 countries. According to the report, it takes 27 steps and 162 days to obtain a construction permit in the Greater Mumbai area, with the cost of construction permit in the city accounting for approx 46.05 percent of the total cost of construction.

The new circular intends to further empower developers and architects by allowing them to self-certify some of the required permissions, which will be later verified by the relevant civic departments.

It states that, “Many procedures like the NoC from the Tree Authority and the chief fire officer could be processed by the developer prior to submitting his application. All NoCs will be issued for the full potential of the plot. Simplification of procedures will have to be carried out without compromising on due diligence that is required by the certifying professionals and officials of the planning authority."