Simplification of Building License Process: An Initiative by Mysore City Corporation

Hijam Eskoni Devi

Rohit Nadkarni

Administrative Staff College of India Bella Vista, Hyderabad 500 082, Andhra Pradesh, India

ABSTRACT The Mysore City Corporation (MCC) has undertaken an innovative initiative to simplify the procedures

for issue of building construction license. Due to this initiative, the whole license issuing process has

become efficient and effective, and building construction licenses are issued to the applicants on the

same day. The initiative has led to reduction in time taken for approval, reduction in trips undertaken

for license approval and increase in the revenue. This document presents the process and

experiences of the Mysore City Corporation in implementing its initiative. It also present the lessons

learnt and its replicability in other Indian cities.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT This documentation is a part of the good practices documentation, undertaken by the Urban

Governance Area at Administrative Staff College of India. We are Grateful to Shri K N Chandrasekhar,

Commissioner Mysore City Corporation, for extending valuable support and facilitating data collection

and discussions with key officials at MCC. We are also thankful to Shri M Nanjunda Swamy, Assistant

Statistical Officer and Shri R Shesha, Junior Town Planner at Mysore City Corporation. However, the

usual disclaimer applies.

Introduction

Mysore is the second largest city in Karnataka, India

with a population of 7,85,800 and the number of

households is 1,65,815 (2001). Mysore was the

former capital of the Kingdom of Mysore and the

state government has accorded Mysore the status of

Heritage City. To preserve the heritage character of

the city, the master plan of the city largely permits

low-rise development.

Mysore is the city of historical and cultural

significance. For this reason, Mysore is one of the 63

cities from across the country that are eligible for

receiving funds under the JnNURM programme of

Government of India.

The municipalities in India through their respective

municipal Acts are responsible for issuing building

construction license for regulating new construction

activity within their respective jurisdictions. Getting a building license is a very time consuming

process, which involves frequent visits to the municipal office, speed money and hiring of middlemen.

During the process the applicant or the middleman hired makes a number of visits to the

municipalities and the other concern departments and on an normal basis this takes a week long time

and in some cases even extends to 45 days.

The Mysore City Corporation (MCC) used to follow similar time consuming procedures for issue of

building construction license. However, the MCC undertook a reform initiative and simplified the

building construction license issuing process in January 2005 mainly due to the increased

dissatisfaction of the citizens. This reform initiative, by introducing a single window system has

reduced the building license issuing time to from 7 days to 15-30 minutes per application. In Mysore,

majority (80 %) of the buildings proposed in the city are Ground and Ground +1 residential

structures.

The reform Initiative

The MCC has been undertaking reforms over the last decade for improving citizen services. The MCC

used to receive around 500 visitors per day for various services. Majority of the visits were for birth

and death certificates, and about twenty applicants on an average used to visit for the building

construction license application/ follow-up. The MCC in 1997 initiated the computerization of birth

and death records and issued computerized certificate through a single window system. This

initiative benefited the citizen demanding the birth and death certificates as the process time has

been reduced and the certificate is issued on the day of filing the application. But the applicants of

building licenses required a weeklong process for getting building license by making frequent visits

for follow-up. This resulted in considerable citizens dissatisfaction. To get a building construction

license the applicant had to go through a weeklong process in the MCC. On 31st January 2005 the

then joint commissioner started the initiative of issuing building license within 15-20 minutes through

a single window system in the citizen service center at MCC, for all residential Ground and Ground +

1 structures with plot size not exceeding 4000sq. ft.

Situation Before the Initiative

The normal procedure for getting a building license approval is as follows (Fig 1): 1. Filing of application with necessary documents at Application Receiving Counter

The applicant files his/her application to the application-receiving counter at the Mysore city corporation office with necessary documents. The documents required for application are: Filled Application Form Khata Certificate Property Tax Paid Certificate / Self Assessment Title Deed / Possession Certificate Affidavit Indeminty Bond Building Plan 1 + 6 copies (1:100 scale)

2. Forwarding of application to the Deputy Director Town Planning (DDTP)

The application that is received in the Application Receiving Counter at the MCC is forwarded

to the Town Planning Department. The application is sent to the Deputy Director Town

Planning (DDTP) for his signature of receiving of the application.

3. Forwarding of application to the concerned Junior Town Planner (JTP)

The DDTP forwards the application to the concerned Junior Town Planner (JTP). There are

three constituencies in Mysore city and each Junior Town Planner is assigned with one

constituency.

4. Verification of application and site inspection by JTP

The JTP verifies the application for the above-mentioned documents and check if the plans

are as per the building byelaws.

Scale of the Drawing Dimensions Indicated Set Backs Ground Coverage FAR & Building Height Signature of the Engineer After verification of all the required documents and plans, the JTP conducts site inspection.

5. If everything complies, the application is forwarded to the DDTP for his signature.

6. On approval by the DDTP, the Chalan is issued for the payment of fees by the Town Planning

Section and is handed to the applicant.

7. After receiving the Chalan, the applicant has to pay the fees to the Corporation Bank Counter at

the MCC.

8. On payment of the fees, the fee receipt is submitted to the Town Planning Department.

9. Approval of the application by Junior Town Planer

10. Application forwarded to DDTP for signature

11. The license is sent to the dispatch section after approval for the applicant to collect.

Figure 1: Building license process prior to reform initiative

1. Filing of application with necessary documents at

Application Receiving Counter

3. Deputy Director Town Planning (DDTP) forward the application to the concerned Junior Town Planner (JTP)

5. Forwarded for approval of DDTP

6. On approval, Chalan issued for payment of fees by the Town Planning Section

8. Submission of Chalan to Town Planning Department

9. Approval of the application by Junior Town Planer

10. Application forwarded to DDTP for signature

11. Dispatch Section

RejectedIf application is not in orderIf application is in order

4. Verification of application and site inspection by JTP

Process Duration

- Min. 7 days - Max. 45 days

2. Forwarding of application to the Deputy Director Town Planning (DDTP) Section

7. Payment of the Chalan to Corporation Bank Counter

Issues and concerns:

The main issues with the old system are:

1. Lengthy process

2. Illegal water connection Introduction of Reform Initiative

The MCC has initiated the process to overcome the issues of the old system of issue of building

construction license. The lessons from the successful single window initiative of issue of birth and

death certificates were taken into consideration while designing the new initiative.

The introduction of the new system has undergone a long process of discussion and changes in the

whole set up and process that are explained as follows:

1. Meetings and discussions

Meeting was held between the Commissioner, the Town Planner and the Assistant Statistical

Officer (In-charge of e-governance) of the Mysore City Corporation concerned with the

dissatisfaction of the citizen about the old system of issue of building construction license.

The discussion started with the lessons learned from the success of reform in the issue of

birth and death certificate that was issued in the citizen service center.

2. Decision-making

After a long process of meetings and discussions, decision was taken to shift the building

construction license issuing process for all residential Ground and Ground + 1 structures with

plot area not exceeding 4000sq. ft from the town planning department to the citizens service

center (Apart from this, the town planning department will continue to issue building

construction licenses for rest of the categories Residential above G+1, commercial

buildings, etc).

3. Deputing of staff

Shifting the operation form town planning department to citizens service center also involved

deputing the staff from the town planning department to the center. An IT professional for

operation of the computer program is outsourced from the market.

The MCC was provided with an IT professional by the Municipal Administration Department

and with its help they developed customized software programme to scrutinize the building

license, to calculate the fee payable and to manage its database (in turn help to speed up

the entire process). The entry format for this software programme was developed in regional

language for better communication and understanding for its citizens. (Refer annexure I for

the data entry software programme snapshots). To operate this software programme the

MCC outsourced the operation job to a private IT professional with knowledge of both

English and regional language (Kanada).

The entire procedure requires:

(1) The Junior Town Planner

(2) The IT professional for operation

(3) The Accountant/ clerk

The IT professional is the only person recruited, while the Junior Town Planner is deputed

from the Town Planning Department and the Accountant is a bank employee who operates

the counter for general operation at the Corporation.

At present there are two Junior Town Planner (JTP) at MCC. After the initiative each JTP is

given a three days term on an alternate day routine at the citizens service center in a week

so that the work in the Town Planning Department also do not suffer. When they are at the

citizen service center they look after the issue of the building license of buildings which

covers under the new initiative (i.e. all residential Ground and Ground + 1 structures with

plot area not exceeding 4000sq. ft) and in the Town Planning Department they take care of

the other matters which are not covered under the initiative. There are three constituencies.

Each JTP is allotted with one of the constituency and they take care of the matters concerned

with the respective constituency (The MCC had three JTP positions, one JTP was recently

transferred and the position is yet to be filled).

4. Delegation of power

As per the Municipal Act, the commissioner has the authority to delegate power & duties, in

case of MCC, under the new initiative, the commissioner gave the Junior Town Planner the

authority to approve the building construction license. Under this, the Junior Town Planner

was given the responsibility for receiving the application, verification of documents and the

plans as per norms / checklist, and approve the license (includes signing the issued license).

5. Change in Fee structure

Before the initiative MCC used to charge only a license fee, which included ground rent,

debris removal charge, compound fee, betterment charge, property tax (arrears if any) and

slum development charge. As part of this new initiative MCC also included service fees

(Service charges) as a charge for processing the license quickly, road-cutting fee and fee for

domestic water connections. The inclusion of fees for the domestic water connections, while

obtaining the building construction license helped the MCC to reduce the number of illegal

water connection for construction purpose and also have lead to the increase in city

corporation revenue. There is an increase of 15% income in the city corporation revenue as

per discussion with the officials. In year 2006-2007 Rs. 116.06 lakhs was the amount

collected on service charge, water connection fees and road cutting fee (about 20 per cent of

the total revenue generated in 2006-07).

Table 1: Revenue generated before and after the initiative

Year Number of applicants Revenue generated (in lakhs) Before the Initiative

2003-2004 5767 Rs.157.74 2004-2005 4827 Rs.193.60

After the Initiative 2005-2006 4622 Rs. 331.00 2006-2007 4208(total), out of which 3406 is under

the citizen service centre Rs. 609.35

Objective of the reform:

The main aim of the initiative was to reduce the processing time and to deliver efficient and effective

services.

Situation after the initiative:

After the new initiative the process of getting a building license has changed. The initiative has made

obtaining the license of building permission easier and less time consuming. The steps are as follows

(Fig 2):

1. Filing of application to the Junior Town Planner (JTP) in the Citizens Service Centre

The applicant directly files the application along with the necessary documents to the JTP in

the Citizens Service Centre.

2. Verification of Document & the Building plans as per the byelaws and the checklist by the JTP

The steps for verification of the application are:

Step1: The JTP first checks if it fulfills the first requirement i.e. Building should be Ground or

G + 1 residential structure, Plot area > 4000 sft . If the application fulfills the requirement of

step1 then only it proceeds to step 2.

Step 2: The documents required are:

Filled Application Form Khata Certificate Property Tax Paid Certificate / Self Assessment Title Deed / Possession Certificate Affidavit Indeminty Bond Building Plan 1 + 6 copies (1:100 scale)

Step 3: The JTP had to verify the document and check if the plans are as per the building

byelaws.

Scale of the Drawing Dimensions Indicated Set Backs Ground Coverage

FAR & Building Height Signature of the Engineer

3. IT operator takes file from JTP, enters the data and then Chalan is issued

JTP after checking the documents, gives the file to the IT operator to enter the data and the fees is calculated automatically and chalan is generated. The steps are: Data entered as per checklist & verified Computer Calculates the Fees Print generated (refer Annexure II) Chalan signed & Issued by JTP

4. Payment of Chalan to Corporation Bank Counter at MCC Citizens Service Centre

The Chalan issued from the citizen service centre is then taken by the applicant and then the

applicant has to pay the amount in the Corporation Bank Counter at the MCC

5. After receipt of fess payments, IT operator prints the license and license is signed and issued by

the Junior Town Planner.

The Single Window System The applicant, JTP and IT operator

The JTP Verifying the Documents

Figure 2: Building license process before and after the initiative.

The awareness Campaign

The success of new initiative also depended on the communication strategy adopted. In MCC, to

make its citizens aware of this new initiative, the MCC launched an extensive citizens awareness

campaign through advertisements in local newspapers, local television channels and also putting up

display boards in corporation office. The campaign was carried out in two languages that are English

and Kanada. The MCC after two year of launching the initiative is still continuing with its awareness

campaign through various media available and is also closely monitoring the initiative.

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Procedure before the initiative Procedure after the initiative

Place of operation- MCC Town Planning Department Place of operation- MCC Citizens Service Centre

1. Filing of application with necessary documents at

Application Receiving Centre at MCC

3. Deputy Director Town Planning (DDTP) forwards to the concerned

Junior Town Planner (JTP)

5. Forwarded for approval of DDTP

6. Chalan issued for payment of fees by the Town Planning Section

7. Payment of the Chalan to Corporation Bank counter at MCC

9. Approval by application by Junior Town Planer

10.Application forwarded to DDTP for signature

11. Dispatch Section at MCC

2. Forwarding of application to the DDTP in Town Planning Dept.

Rejected

If application is not in orderIf application is in order

4. Verification of application and site inspection by JTP

Process Duration- Min. 7 days, Max. 45 daysProcess Duration- 1 day (30 Minute)

1. Filing of application with necessary documents to the Junior Town Planner (JTP) in the Citizens

Service Centre

2. Verification of Document & the Building plans as per the byelaws

and the checklist by the JTP

3. IT operator takes file from JTP, enters the data and then Challan is issued.

- Data entered as per checklist & verified - Computer Calculates the Fees - Print generated (refer Annexure II) - Challan signed & Issued by JTP

If application is in order

If application is not in order,

asked to resubmit with required

changes

4. Payment of Chalan to Corporation Bank counter at MCC Citizens Service

Centre

5. After receipt of fess payments, IT operator prints the license and license is signed and issued by the Junior Town

Planner

8. Submission of the Chalan to Town Planning Department

A lot of campaign works were also conducted for the awareness of the citizen regarding the new

initiative in the form of advertisement in the MCC, announcement in the local TV channels, and

newspapers.

Figure 3: The awareness campaign launched by Mysore City Corporation

Table 2: Situation before and After the Initiative

Before the initiative After the initiative Time taken Minimum of 7 day and Maximum

45 days 15 to 20 minutes

Place Town planning department at MCC

Citizen service center at MCC

Computer database - Creation of computer database Average license fee Four Thousand (2004-2005) Eight Thousand (2006-07) Number of Visit Required

Minimum 3 Maximum 1 (if the documents are in order and if he is ready with the fee amount)

Table 3: Impact of the initiative

Advantages: Disadvantage: Significant reduction in time for

processing the license and is citizen friendly

Reduction in number of visits required per individual for getting the license

Increase in city corporation revenue Reduction in unauthorized water

connection Computer database generated Good will created by the Corporation

There is a possibility of default, as there is no site verification.

Limitations:

Like any other new initiative, the Mysore initiative also has few limitations.

1. The main limitation is that the initiative is applicable only to residential ground and ground+1

structures on vacant sites.

2. Discussion with the staff indicated that the initiative has reduced substantial time in issue of

building construction license, but since there in no site inspection carried out before the

issuing of building license, the number of violation cases may increase. Few such cases were

also reported to the MCC and currently the citizens have taken the issue of violation in these

cases to court. There is also a sense of fear that, the no site inspection procedure followed,

can lead to increase in number of violation in byelaws.

3. The workload has also increased, as they have to do the issue of license in the Citizens Service Centre and in addition have to work in the Town Planning Department for their

respective constituency for issue of license of the buildings that doesnt fall under the

category of the new initiative. Lessons Learnt and Replicability

This process of issuing license within 30 minutes not only saved the time of the applicant but also led

to increase in the municipal revenue. Incorporating other charges and fees while issuing the building

construction license like the water connection deposit / fee, has also resulted in reduction of

unauthorized water connection in the city as per discussion with the officials of MCC. For

implementation of such initiative there is also IT skill sets that are required to develop customized

software programme for operation, and even MCC feels a need of hiring a permanent IT professional,

but with the current demand in IT sector, the remuneration for a IT professional is higher than the

salary of the municipal commissioner which creates a hurdle for hiring and hence it is outsourced in

the case of MCC.

The MCC initiative is currently limited only for ground and ground +1 residential structures. For

Ground + 1 structure one does not require structural drawing and clearance from other departments

like fire, Urban Development Department, airport authority, etc. hence the process is simpler. Once

the building goes more than two floors there are other complex procedure that one has to go

through before even applying for building license like obtaining NOC from concern department etc.

MCC is planning even to simply the issue of building construction license for more than G+1

structures. The current Mysore initiative is a very effective and has efficient process for issue of

building construction license and such initiative can be easily replicated in small and medium cites

where majority of the building proposed are G+1 structure.

Annexure I

Customized programme for Data Entry

Window for entering the personal information about the applicant and the proposed building

Window for entering the proposed building details for compliance and for calculating the Fees

Annexure II

Checklist and Fees to be paid Generated by the software programme

Annexure III Service fees, which is based on plot size:

20 ft. X 30 ft. plot area = Rs 500 30 ft. X 40 ft. plot area = Rs 1000 40 ft. X 60 ft. plot area = Rs 1500 above 2400 sq.ft. plot area = Rs 2000

Road cutting fees,which is based on plot size:

20 ft. X 30 ft. plot area = Rs 300 30 ft. X 40 ft. plot area = Rs 500 40 ft. X 60 ft. plot area = Rs 1000 above 2400 sq.ft. plot area = Rs 1500

Fees for domestic water connection is Rs. 4710 and it is non refundable. Fines for non compliance

For building without license- Rs. 5000/- Fees for Violation of setbacks:

upto 5% = Rs 250 per sq. m. of violated area 5% to 15% = Rs. 500 per sq. m. of violated area 15% to 25 % = Rs 1000 per sq. m. of violated area

Annexure IV

Checklist Item and Fees / Charges Check list:

Documents Application form, Khata Certificate (revenue details), Sale deed, Property Tax / Self Aseesment, Affidavit, Indemnity Bond.

Plan at 1:100 Scale 1 (tracing) +6 (ammonia print) Copies Set backs (Comparison of byelaw and provided) Site area and built up area Floor area ratio Height of building

Charges Calculated for: Betterment charges Services charges Slum development charges 50 paisa per sq. m. License fees Rs.112 per sq. m. Ground rent: Rs. 240 per year Debris removal charges Rs. 65 per sq. m. Compound fees Road cutting charges

Annexure V Sample Copy of License and Application Form

Sample Copy of the License Issued

Sample of Application fo

Hijam Eskoni DeviRohit Nadkarni

IntroductionThe reform InitiativeSituation Before the Initiative Issues and concerns:Introduction of Reform InitiativeObjective of the reform:Situation after the initiative:The awareness CampaignTime taken

Limitations:Lessons Learnt and ReplicabilityAnnexure IAnnexure IIAnnexure IVAnnexure V