BENGALURU: Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar on Monday introduced Nambike Nakshe, a decentralised automated online approval process.
Addressing a press conference, he said all residential constructions, up to four units on a site of up to 50x80 sqft dimension, can now get their building plans approved online from authorized architects or engineers through the new scheme ‘Nambike Nakshe’ (Trust Map).
“This process eliminates the painful process of running from pillar to post in Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) offices to obtain approvals for building plans,” Shivakumar said, and added that standardized and simplified property tax payment system and khata issue system will be in place.
The DCM stated that these schemes are introduced under the ‘Brand Bengaluru’ initiative. “Nambike Nakshe is a trust-based system in which the architects and engineers are empowered to self-declare the plan online and obtain the sanction plan by paying specified fees. This will save precious time for the public and also eliminate corruption,” he explained.
The engineers and architects must be registered with BBMP to be eligible to obtain online sanction plans for their clients. The submitted building plans will be evaluated using technology. Fees also can be paid online. Last year, 9,000 people were issued sanction plans and the number is likely to go up to 10,000 this year, he added.
According to Shivakumar, in the first phase, ‘Nambike Nakshe’ will be introduced on a pilot basis in wards coming under Rajarajeshwarinagar and Dasarahalli zones, and will be extended to other areas of Bengaluru in the days to come.
Tax system simplified
There was much confusion about property tax under the Unit Area Value property tax system, under which properties were divided into 18 zones. Now, there are six zones based on asset classes like residential (owned and rented), commercial, industrial, star hotel, empty lands with rebate and empty lands without rebate, noted the Bengaluru Development Minister.
“Property taxes were revised upwards in 2016 by about 20% for residential buildings and 25% for commercial properties. Property tax rates were not increased for the past eight years. After deliberations, we have decided to fix the tax increase at 10%, and 18 lakh property owners will be brought into the tax bracket,” he added.
“We are allowing all those who have not declared their properties. Now, they can declare properties, obtain a property tax number and get a khata from BBMP. For all those whose documents are in order, BBMP will issue ‘A’ khata and ‘B’ khata for others,” he said.