Mumbai: The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) under its Ease of doing Business initiative has made the process of transfer of tenancy rights online.
The civic body has around 3,500 buildings across the city occupied by around 46,000 tenants. Until now, the transfer of their tenancy rights was done manually. But with the order coming into effect on January 1, the online process will have to be completed within 33 days.
The BMC owns 3,505 buildings, largely in south Mumbai. Many of them were originally owned by the Bombay Improvement Trust and after it was dissolved in the BMC, the buildings came to be owned by the civic body. Some were abandoned properties after the Partition while some were specifically constructed for affordable housing.
The civic body has given these spaces on rent. Thus, even if the BMC continues to be the property owner, the tenants are protected by law and will continue to occupy them for generations. These buildings are used for residential and commercial purposes as well.
In case a tenant had to sell the property, he would need the no-objection certificate (NOC) of the landowner (BMC) and pay a certain share of the transaction to the civic body as well. This is called transfer of tenancy rights. The process is time consuming as he would need to produce several documents, and it is only done manually.
People can now access the new service under the ‘online services’ tab on the BMC’s website www.mcgm.gov.in . They can go to ‘estate department’ where they can apply for transfer or check status of their application. They have to fill in an online form and attach scanned copies of relevant documents including affidavit, indemnity bond, NOC of the original tenant, and NOC of the legal heir. Once application is scrutinised, the tenant will be called to the BMC office for paying transfer fee and signing the agreement. He will be notified via email and SMS.
“The BMC has already made several of its services online under the Ease of Doing Business initiative. This will be an important addition to it. Besides, tenants will be able to check the status of their application,” a civic body spokesperson said.
