TS-bPASS hits a ‘home’ run
Despite Covid, over 25,000 applications have been filed for building permits; 85% of them cleared
Hyderabad: TS-bPASS, an initiative that facilitates hassle-free building permissions to citizens across the State, has come as a boon for people evident from the fact that despite the Covid pandemic, over 25,000 applications were filed and about 85 per cent of them processed.
Telangana State Building Permission and Approval and Self- Certification System, which does away with the earlier process of cumbersome paperwork that had citizens running from pillar to post to obtain building permits or layout approvals, came into effect on November 16 last.
Of the 25,196 applications received till June 11, as many as 13,292 were filed under DTCP (Directorate of Town and Country Planning) limits, 9,681 in HMDA jurisdiction and 2,233 in GHMC limits. Interestingly, the highest number of applications — 5,393 — was filed in March this year, followed by 4,871 applications in April, a senior official from the Municipal Administration and Urban Development Department told ‘Telangana Today’.
“The disposal rate of applications under TS-bPASS is around 80-85 per cent, and in HMDA, it is 84 per cent. This indicates that post-verification and scrutiny officers are not holding up the files,” the official said.
Under the TS-bPASS Act 2020, building permissions are issued in three categories: Instant registrations for individual residential buildings of plot size up to 75 sq. yards and for building height up to 7 m; instant approval for individual residential buildings for plot size above 75 sq. yards to 600 sq yards (500 sq m) and for building height up to 10 m; and Single-Window building permissions for all residential buildings above 500 sq m or height above 10 m and all non-residential buildings.
Illustration: Chaitanya Mulla
The State government issues instant registration and instant approval on submission of application and self-certification. For single-window building permission applications, the processing time is 21 days. Since the building permissions are granted on submission of self-certification, officials need to take up post-verification process, during which officials verify documents submitted by applicants. This exercise is to be completed in 15 days.
The TS-bPASS Chasing Cell, Additional Collectors and officials from ULBs monitor the application processing every day and this helps in clearing applications without leaving much of pending work. Town planning officials and other department officers have been issued instructions to process applications immediately. The Municipal Commissioner finally issues the work commencement letter to applicants after ensuring that all the documents enclosed are correct. Similarly, permissions are revoked if there is any misrepresentation of facts or documents.
“During post-verification, authorities will either revoke or accept the building permission issued,” said the official.
For single-window applications, there is a one-time facility for officials to raise questions on the shortfall of documents within 10 days of an application. The applicant can then respond to the query within 15 days and submit the required documents. If the application is not processed in 21 days, it will be deemed approved. The deemed approval is not applicable for instant permissions.
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