Need to make Occupancy Certificate mandatory in Bengaluru

Are you living in an apartment in Bengaluru which does not have an Occupancy Certificate (OC)? Then you may be in a quandary due to the recent decision taken by the Karnataka government making it mandatory for builders to provide home buyers with an OC. The Karnataka Chief Minister said that the government plans to take stringent action against those errant builders flouting building bye-laws by not providing home buyers with an Occupancy Certificate. Thousands of home owners are facing a similar plight of not being provided with an OC.

Substantiating Statistics

According to reliable sources, about 10,000 residential buildings in the city, after the Karnataka government introduced the Transfer of Development Rights (TDR) in 2005, do not have OCs. Among these, 50 per cent are apartments. Another alarming fact is that only 97 “high-rise” buildings have obtained OCs between 2009 and 2014. As per this statistic, hundreds of buildings in the city are being occupied without being issued an OC. However, what is startling is that most of this is done with the knowledge of the BBMP which collects property tax from such property owners inspite of them not possessing an OC. This amounts to a direct violation of Section 5.7 of the Bangalore Municipal Building Bye-law of 2003.

Laws flouted

As is known to property builders and developers, obtaining an OC is a pre-requisite as per the Karnataka Apartment Ownership Act, 1972. According to this law, it is illegal to move into a building which has not been issued an OC by the BBMP or BDA. It has been observed that in many instances, even though building plans are sanctioned, Occupancy Certificates are not issues due to violations on the part of the builder. For buildings were OCs have not been issued, the BBMP can ask owners to vacate such illegally occupied buildings or impose heavy fines on its owners.

Challenges

However, taking action against such errant builders is easier said than done. This is primarily due to an unhealthy nexus between many civic authorities and developers who operate hand in glove in such illegal practices. Besides, the lack of stringent laws making it mandatory to possess an OC, or rather the lack of enforcement in the existing laws make it an arduous task as far as bringing such wrong-doers to task. Over the years many such builders have gone scot-free leaving owners of such buildings in jeopardy of being forced to vacate its premises inspite of investing their hard-earned money on such buildings. Many builders have fled without issuing OCs or legal water connections to owners, thus leaving them in the lurch to fend for themselves.

Causes

Such buildings are mushrooming across Bengaluru in recent times with authorities unable to curb the practice from spiraling. So, what can this be attributed to? According to experts, the realty boom across the city has resulted in many ‘fly-by-night’ builders resorting to such illegal practices so as to make a fast buck. This resulted in a break-down in the system with lack of transparency adding to the woes of the authorities. Moreover, the lack of concrete regulations and buildings norms has resulted in many unscrupulous builders constructing residential projects without proper approvals and environment clearances.