No property tax hike for homes less than 500 sq ft in Mumbai: Hindustan Times

The property taxes of 16.89 lakh homes in the city will not be hiked for the next five years, with the state cabinet on Wednesday approving a proposal to protect owners of properties less than 500 sq ft from any increase. “These properties had been protected from an increase till April 2015, after which their taxes would have gone up manifold. Wednesday’s decision will ensure these smaller properties remain protected for the next five years,” chief minister Devendra Fadnavis said.

While the move comes as relief for small home owners, it is also being viewed as a political decision by the Fadnavis-led cabinet, with an eye on the BMC polls, as this order has overturned a decision taken by the Sena-controlled civic body in March.

The civic body’s standing committee, where the Sena has majority, had approved imposing the capital value-based property tax system on smaller residential properties, instead of the current system, where the tax is based on the properties’ rental values. The shift from the rental to capital value-based system would have increased the property tax by up to 40%.

While the BMC has not carried out a detailed study on the impact of such a decision, the property tax paid by smaller houses in the island city would have gone up, as their rents are paltry – dictated by the Maharashtra rent control act, 1999.

Wednesday’s decision, therefore, will be a big relief for such properties.

The announcement comes a day after a delegation of city Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders met Fadnavis to demand that the hike be called off.

However, some owners may not benefit from the cabinet’s decision. “There are many properties whose owners pay higher rents because the space is situated in prime localities. These properties would have paid lower taxes had the new system been introduced,” said an official, not wishing to be named.

The civic body too will be affected by the move. Sources in the BMC said they are looking at losses of Rs150 crore annually.

While introducing the new capital value-based system, the BMC had decided to tax all properties under the new system, but the then Congress-Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) government decided to exempt homes with less than 500 sqft carpet area for five years. This exemption had ended on March 31, 2015.

Ease of doing biz? Software flaw in BMC hits building plans: Times of India

MUMBAI: As part of its 'ease of doing business' policy, the BMC early this month made it mandatory for the construction industry to submit building proposals online.

But glitches due to an outdated software supplied to the BMC by a private contractor have left builders and architects fuming. They complain the system does not work because the software is not user-friendly and not been updated to support changes made in the development control rules over the past two years. Even plans, which are prima facie wrong, are shown as approvable by the software, said architects.

Municipal commissioner Ajoy Mehta admitted the online system supports barely 15% of a building proposal. "More work needs to be done. Our aim now is to bring a certain level of predictability in building permissions," he told TOI on Wednesday. Mehta said proposals are, however, being approved manually.

The city's leading architects' association, PEATA, will meet Mehta to rectify the system. They alleged that unscrupulous ward level staff is using this as an excuse to delay permissions and knock out money from builders.

On May 16, the chief engineer of the civic development plan department issued an ultimatum to zonal offices to ensure all proposals are accepted only through a single window application online system. The directive said that from May 18, only those proposals processed through this system should be accepted. But architects said the automation envisaged by the BMC is not happening; on the contrary, proposals are getting delayed because the software is cumbersome. "None of the sub-engineers of the building proposal department are comfortable with it," they said.

Last April, TOI reported about the BMC's attempt to streamline its notorious building proposal department from mid-May by curtailing permissions a developer needs to obtain building approvals and commencement certificate.

A 21-page circular issued by the then civic chief Sitaram Kunte directed the development plan department to begin "auto scrutiny" and online single window application of building proposals.

"The main focus is to simplify the construction permit process and reduce the time by eliminating avoidable procedures. It envisages a reduction in procedures involved in interdepartmental clearances and stages by about 50% and reduction of time byabout 60%. It also envisages an IT-enabled system for a single window clearance as a long-term solution," said the circular.

The World Bank's 2014 report on 'Dealing with Construction Permits' ranks India 184th out of 189 countries. The report states it takes 27 steps and 162 days to obtain a construction permit in Greater Mumbai. It adds that the cost of construction permit in the city is 46.05% of the total cost of construction.

‘Don’t merely correct DP errors, make holistic plan’: Times of India

MUMBAI: A group of campaigners and experts met on Wednesday evening to discuss the issues that they wanted the revised draft Development Plan (DP) 2034 to address.

The public meeting conducted by the Urban Design Research Institute was held at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalay auditorium in Fort.

Pankaj Joshi, executive director of UDRI, pointed that there was active engagement by citizens in the draft DP 2034. "The BMC was open to suggestions, however, it did not reflect in the Proposed Land Use (PLU) plan. This disconnect cannot be understood. Besides the DP 2034 draft published in February spoke about how the authorities aimed at a competitive, sustainable and inclusive plan but this too did not reflect in the proposal," said Joshi. "Out of the total 450 sq km space of the city, almost three-fourths of it has been left out with the authorities claiming that it is out of their scope. This gave the impression that the authorities were preparing the DP 2034 only for a certain section of the city," he added. "The informal sectors of the city are completely missing. Besides there are roads being shown cutting from gaothons and people's buildings. A plan, as such, if it had gone through would have affected a large majority of people," said Joshi. The draft DP 2034 has not been scrapped by the government, the civic body has been tasked with revising it.

A civic activist present at the meeting said, "If the entire city is not considered it would only lead to litigation in the future."

Former civic body chief D M Sukhtankar, who was also present for the session, said that a presentation needs to be made to the authorities. "The planners need to be sensitized to the issues raised in this meeting," he said.

Mumbai's size will double in 23 years: Expert: DNA

The world is getting urbanised and it will not stop. Mumbai is growing by an annual rate of 3.09 per cent and in another 23 years, its size will double. This is what senior urban planner at the World Bank, Pedro B Ortiz, said at a recent conference on Sustainable Urbanisation and World Cities.

Similarly, Pune is increasing at a rate of 11 per cent and in another seven years its size will double.

As India and particularly Mumbai Metropolitan Region is in a transitional stage, Ortiz said the future development plan needs to be sectorial or in the form of sectors. "There should be plan of plans," said Ortiz.

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is in the process of coming up with a revised Development Plan, whereas the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) is working on third regional plan for the Mumbai Metropolitan Region.

Talking about the issues with implementation of projects, which is part of urbanisation, and budgetary allocations getting lapsed due to non-utilisation of funds, UPS Madan, Metropolitan Commissioner of MMRDA, said, "At the end of the year, not all the funds or budget is used due to wrong planning and other reasons, be it political or administrative. There are also factors during the course of implementation that delays any projects."

Instead of completing the project in three years, it takes longer and thereby budget allocated for a project not getting utilised by the end of the financial year. Therefore, at times the budgetary allocation exercise also is not proper enough.