Pay fine, everything will be fine!

Pay fine, everything will be fine!
Building Violation Regularisation Bill Pending Before Govt
The Times of India

Bangalore: If a Bill on building violations regularisation pending before the government is given an aye, every building in the city limits with violation can get away with it for a few rupees more. Simply put, a penalty will be slapped on violators. And even this, is just a one-time payment, the tariffs of which are yet to be stipulated.

Statistics help in pushing the case — a guestimate by BDA and BMP officials on building violations in the city stands at a whopping 6 lakh. When translated into fine amount, according to the BMP, it would yield dividends to the tune of Rs 100 crore. So much so that in the official records, Performance vs Budget Targets 2005-06, the estimates for ‘building deviation regularisation’ has been concretised at Rs 10,000 lakh and the actuals of course are zilch.

The BMP has two ‘fine’ examples before it: the municipal corporations of Chennai and Hyderabad raked in Rs 250 crore by capitalising on building deviations.

But the scheme clashes with the one on giving a legitimate status to violation of by-laws and deviations, Transfer of Development Rights (TDR). However, officials contend that TDR has a social standing because it helps in the greater common good, road widening.

The chronology of building deviation, a boon or bane depending on where you come from, stands thus: the erstwhile S M Krishna government had approved two Bills, one on regularisation of building deviations and another on TDR.
While TDR was passed by the assembly, building deviation was sent back based on a letter written by former Prime Minister Deve Gowda questioning the ethics behind such a Bill.

Tax Truths
In 2004-05, the total property tax receipts increased from Rs 135 cr to Rs 157 cr BMP, which reckons Rs 300 cr is ‘decent’ collection of property tax, has so far raked in Rs 220 crore (Feb-end 2006) Whereas the market from deviations alone stands at Rs 100 crore