The State Government is gearing up to issue guidelines for much awaited Building Penalisation Scheme (BPS) very soon. The penal amount is expected to be 50 per cent more than the penalty collected through BPS introduced in 2007.
The Government, sources say, has completed “legal vetting of the scheme.” The government has indicated the local bodies that the guidelines would be announced by mid April.
There is a delay in announcement of the scheme though the Cabinet has approved it in February. The scheme is subjected to judicial scrutiny for the fact that then united A.P. government had committed to the High Court that the BPS (2007) was going to be a “one-time scheme.”
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Then united A.P. government issued two GOs -- 901 and 112 regarding the building penalisation. The GO 901 was issued in 2007 imposing heavy penalties on erring building owners. It paved way for strong resentment from all section of the society. Subsequently, the government brought down the penal charges and relaxed some of the norms through GO 112 issued in January 2008.
Exempted
The government, in the GO 112, exempted all RCC buildings constructed in less than 100 square metres of area with a ground plus one floor from any penalisation. Another major respite is that the government has allowed payment of penalisation charges in instalments. Property owners were allowed to pay 50 per cent of the penalty along with the application and the remaining in six months.
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Penalty
The government levied a penalty of Rs. 20 per sq.ft to Rs. 100 per sq.ft for individual residential buildings and other non-commercial uses depending upon deviations and occupancy/use. Likewise, the penalty was R. 40 per sq.ft to Rs. 200 per sq. ft for commercial buildings through GO 112.
Taking these penalties as base, sources say, the government is contemplating levying a penal charge not less than 50 per cent of penalties fixed through GO 112.
The government announced that about 40,000-odd applications were pending with various municipalities across the State to avail the BPS. However, exact number of properties that attract penalty would emerge only once the scheme was launched. In Vijayawada Municipal Corporation (VMC) alone, officials say, the applications are expected to touch 15,000. The Corporation is expecting to rake in a revenue of Rs. 60 crore to Rs. 70 crore through the BPS.
The new scheme however will not be applicable to the areas which come under the jurisdiction of the Capital Region Development Authority (CRDA) in between Vijayawada and Guntur. It is also not applicable to those illegal structures constructed right in government lands and on riverbeds.