Those seeking building plan approval will have to pay more as the Coimbatore Corporation has revised the approval fee and also introduced a few new ones.
The details of the revised fee came to light only recently though the Corporation had issued the order for increasing sometime in June this year.
In a Council resolution of June 13, 2019, the Corporation has said that applicants would have to pay inspection fee ₹ 500.
This is applicable for plans for buildings that were shown to measure not more than 250 sq.m., or less than 2,690 sq.ft.
For plan drawings from people from the economically weaker sections, the Corporation has said that there would be no fee provided the proposed building measured less than 40 sq.m. or 430 sq.ft.
For plans showing buildings that measure more than 250 sq.m., the Corporation had fixed the inspection fee at ₹ 2 a sq.m.
For giving plan approval, the civic body had almost doubled the fee but increased the time given for construction from three to five years.
For approving plans showing construction or renovation of houses measuring upto 10 sq.m., the Corporation that had thus far charged ₹ 200 would charge ₹ 400. For plans showing buildings that measure more than 10 sq.m. the Corporation has not said anything.
For approving plans showing multi-storey building, the fee for the first floor, again only for 10 sq.m., the Corporation has said that it would charge ₹ 700, for second floor ₹ 900 and for the third floor ₹ 1,000.
For plans showing buildings with more than four floors, the Corporation has said it would collect ₹ 1,700 for every sq.m. or part thereof.
As security deposit, the Corporation said it would collect ₹ 75 for every sq.m. for houses, ₹ 150 for commercial buildings, including education institutions and industries, and added that it would return the money if during inspections its officers found that the applicants had constructed the buildings as per the approved plan.
In the order the Corporation had also said the process of giving planning approval should follow the online process.
Sources familiar with the development said that the civic body did not have an online approval process, where applicants were forced to wait four to five months.
And, worse, the Corporation had also not joined the rest of the State in using the e-DCR system for granting plan approval. The Corporation used another software, auto DCR, and was the only local body to do so.
The sources also took objection to the Corporation collecting debris fee saying that when the civic body did not remove the debris from construction sites why should the applicants pay for a service that they were not getting.
Corporation officials said that the auto-DCR software the civic body used was “far superior” to the one used in other parts of the State. The Corporation was also in the process of upgrading the software.
S. Kanagasundaram of the Association of Licensed Building Surveyors said that the Corporation doubling the fee by merely increasing the time given for construction was unfair as for increasing the time from three to five years, it incurred no additional expenses.
He also questioned the levy of debris fee asking why the Corporation should charge applicants for a service it did not offer.