The Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has set in motion the process of collection of betterment charges towards regularisation of sites formed under converted lands.
A circular was issued on Monday directing BBMP’s Revenue officials to start collecting the fee.
The BBMP council had resolved to fix the betterment charges at Rs. 200 per sq m for converted land in 100 wards in core areas and Rs. 250 per sq m for the same in 98 wards in newly added areas. There are six categories of properties, including residential layouts established by Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board, Karnataka Housing Board and Karnataka State Small Industries Development Corporation Ltd., where civic amenities are not available, and also several areas that have been reconveyed by the Bangalore Development Authority. In addition, those properties that have been regularised under the Karnataka Land Revenue Act Section 94 (C) are also included in the category.
The collection of betterment fee is expected to earn revenue of Rs. 500 crore for the BBMP, while property owners can get their ‘A’ khata enabling them to get bank loans and sanctioned building plans. Those properties which have secured land conversion for non-agricultural purposes and single undivided properties are now eligible to get khata. About three lakh properties in Revenue pockets are likely to benefit from the scheme. Recently, several councillors had questioned the delay in collection of betterment charges.
Property taxA BBMP release said that Rs. 1,050 crore had been collected as property tax in three months — from April to June. Last year, this figure was Rs. 780 crore. The release added that Rs. 18 crore had been collected in the last five days.
