Mumbai Buildings: OC Amnesty Scheme for 10 Lakh Residents

Nagpur, Dec 11 (PTI) The Maharashtra government would bring a revised occupancy certificate (OC) amnesty scheme to regularise nearly 20,000 buildings in Mumbai that have remained without the mandatory document for years, Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde said on Thursday.
Speaking in the assembly, which is having its winter session in Nagpur, Shinde, who holds urban development and housing portfolios, declared that more than 10 lakh residents who have faced legal and financial difficulties due to the absence of OC would benefit from the decision.
According to him, close to 20,000 buildings in Mumbai were denied OC due to minor deviations from their approved plans.
Their residents have been paying double property tax, water charges and sewerage tax. The new scheme would directly help over 2.5 lakh families, the Deputy CM told the assembly.
Notably, an OC is a legal document issued by local municipal bodies that certifies a building is safe for habitation and has been built according to its approved plans and regulations.
Shinde maintained the amnesty scheme would end the obligation to pay double property tax and make it easier for people to secure bank loans for home purchase.

"The resale market will also improve as properties will fetch appropriate value," he said.
"Under the new plan, residents will no longer pay double property tax for lack of an OC. Access to home loans will become easier, and property transactions, which were affected due to low valuations, will get a boost. The constant fear of municipal action will also end," Shinde opined.
The scheme would also allow residents to utilise their full entitlement during redevelopment. Under the plan, proposals submitted for regularisation would receive a 50 per cent concession on the premium for additional or fungible built-up area based on the ready reckoner rate, he added.
Proposals presented within the first six months would not attract any penalty, while those submitted between six months and one year would have to pay a penalty equal to 50 per cent of the applicable rate, the Deputy CM stated.
Shinde said the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation had been instructed to establish a separate mechanism to grant OC to individual flat owners if they sought the certificate independently.
The benefit of the scheme would also extend to hospitals and schools listed under unauthorised structures, offering relief to the health and education sectors, he told the house.
"The government intended to implement similar policies in other municipal corporations across Maharashtra and the urban development department had been asked to submit a detailed report. I appeal to Mumbai residents to make full use of the revised amnesty scheme," Shinde said.
He emphasised the Mahayuti government has been working for the transformation of Mumbai over the past three-and-a-half years. The government's priority is to ensure safety for existing residents and bring back original Mumbai families who had moved out.