In a significant move aimed at alleviating bureaucratic hurdles for homeowners, the Karnataka government has exempted a specific category of residential buildings in Bengaluru from the mandatory requirement of an occupancy certificate (OC).
The order, issued on Tuesday, is a direct response to widespread public anxiety following a recent Supreme Court mandate.
The exemption applies to individual houses constructed on plots of up to 1,200 square feet. These properties, typically configured as ground-plus-two floors or stilt-plus-three floors, will no longer need the certification to avail essential civic services.
As reported by Deccan Herald, the government utilised powers under Section 241(7) of the Greater Bengaluru Governance Act, 2024, to enact this change.
This decision is designed to ease compliance and prevent smaller projects from becoming entangled in red tape. Officials cited the immense strain on municipal manpower as a key factor, with an estimated 4,000 such buildings being constructed in the city annually. Inspecting each one before issuing an OC was deemed impractical.
The impetus for the move stems from a December 2024 Supreme Court order, which ruled that no civic services - including water, electricity or sanitation - could be provided to buildings lacking an OC.
This ruling had left lakhs of citizens in a lurch, creating a backlog of nearly one lakh applications for connections with the Bangalore Electricity Supply Company (Bescom) alone.
A meeting chaired by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on July 3 was convened to find a solution for those affected. However, the exemption does not resolve all issues. As noted in the Deccan Herald report, a separate policy deadlock remains for owners of 'B' khata properties, who are systematically denied OCs regardless of building compliance.
High-rise buildings, commercial complexes and mixed-use projects that exceed the prescribed size thresholds will still be required to obtain an occupancy certificate, the government order clarified.
This reform aligns with the state’s efforts to streamline permissions through initiatives like ‘Nambike Nakshe’, an automated online software that grants instant draft approval and final sanction within 15 days for plots up to 1,200 sq ft.
The government’s intervention is expected to provide immediate relief to thousands of homeowners across Greater Bengaluru.
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