FAKE OCCUPANCY CERTIFICATE AND ITS EFFECTS

FAKE OCCUPANCY CERTIFICATE

What would be the total number of residential high-rise buildings in Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) limits, built during the last five years? 

If the data provided by the BBMP is anything to go by, 97 is the exact number of buildings built in the Capital city between 2009 and 2014, which have been issued official Occupancy Certificates by BBMP. What is more puzzling is the reply given by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in the Assembly session last month, confirming that no cases of residential apartments failing to obtain Occupancy Certificates have come to the notice of the government. However, if you are the one who is following the real estate development in the last few years, you would know that this number, 97, is a joke. Numerous residential as well commercial complexes within the city stretching for about 741 km, have mushroomed in the last five years. So, if the official number of buildings that have BBMP's Occupancy Certificates is only 97, what about all other buildings that were built between 2009 to 2014? The figure released by BBMP raises some serious doubts over the actual story behind Occupancy Certificates, its relevancy and dilution due to vague laws. What is Occupancy Certificate? 

According to the building bye-laws of BBMP, every builder should complete the construction or reconstruction of a building for which the licence was obtained. The construction should complete before the expiry of five years from the date of issue of licence. Within one month after the completion of the construction the builder should intimate the Commissioner in writing about the completion. It should be accompanied by a certificate in certified by a registered architect / engineer / supervisor. Along with this, the application for permission to occupy the building should be submitted. “The authority shall intimate the applicant within thirty days of receipt of the intimation whether the application for Occupancy Certificate (OC) is accepted or rejected. In case, the application is accepted, the Occupancy Certificate shall be issued in the form given in Schedule IX provided the building is in accordance with the sanctioned plan,” says the byelaw. In addition, OC should be given after the physical inspection of the building by an official who has to verify if the building has been constructed as per the sanctioned plan and has met the requirement of building byelaws. This includes inspections by the Fire Service Department wherever necessary. In Bengaluru, BBMP and BDA issue Occupancy Certificates. Fake OCs issued by BBMP officials? BBMP ruling party leader N R Ramesh, the corporator of Yediyur ward, who smelled a foul play in Occupancy Certificate episode, calls it as nothing less than a scam. “There is no doubt that more than 97 high rise apartments were constructed in BBMP between 2009 and 2014 and several of them have been occupied in the absence of Occupancy Certificate or perhaps with the fake OC. It appears as though the buyers of the flats were unaware of the absence of Occupancy Certificate or were provided with fake OC’s,” he alleges. N R Ramesh has also filed a complaint against unnamed officials, with Bangalore Metropoiltan Task Force (BMTF) police, where he alleges that there are more than 30,000 buildings that have come up in the city since 2009, but BBMP does not have records of plan sanctions for all these buildings. There were only 1300 plans sanctioned, 350 Commencement Certificates and 95 Occupancy Certificates issued between 2009 and 2014 according to BBMP which suggests foul play in the issue of plan sanctions and other certificates, says Ramesh. He doubts that Occupancy Certificates issued to the buildings other than the official 97 high rises would have been fake. He also suspects a revenue loss to BBMP, as the suspected fake certificates would have been issued after pocketing money from the building owners but not remitting the same to BBMP accounts, which is why no record exists with the BBMP. Case against BBMP officials has been registered under section 441 of KMC Act, and IPC sections 420, 409, 468 and 217. 'There may be fake OCs, we're yet to trace them' BBMP Commissioner Lakshminarayan, when asked about updates in the case of fake OCs, said he has referred the case to Technical Vigilance Cell under Commissioner (TVCC) and they are looking into the matter. Meanwhile, the respective Join Commissioners too were asked to submit a report. So far, only one case of fake certificate has come to light. He said he could not recall the name of th building. He is yet to receive the final report from the TVCC and Joint Commissioners. "I will not claim that all cases are genuine. There may be cases of fake OC and buildings without OC. But we could not trace them yet," Lakshminarayan added. Meanwhile, a senior official from the town planning section, on condiction of anonymity, refuted such charges and assured that the department would go for spot inspection if such cases are brought to the department’s notice. “There have been some instances of the apartment builder violating building bye-law and we have ensured that OC is issued only after the deviation is corrected,” the officer said. The case, however, does not include the Occupancy Certificates issued by Bangalore Development Authority. OC must for utility connections in high rises There have been cases of the flat buyers registering and occupying the house even before obtaining the Occupancy Certificate, mostly because there was no strict law in place that prohibited buyers from occupying the house. A house would get permanent water, UGD and electricity connection even before it is certified to be fit for occupancy, by producing a proof of ownership or occupation of premises (latest khata, sale deed, property tax paid, sanction plan, architecture plan, signed by the civil engineer and / or route sketch). Now this has slightly changed. Recently the Urban Development Department issued a circular making it mandatory for people to produce Occupancy Certificates to BESCOM and BWSSB in order to get electricity and water connection. BESCOM Executive Engineer Shanthamallappa said that the department was providing permanent electricity connection to the buildings even in the absence of OC and the new rule has been implemented from December 1, 2014. In yet another development, while addressing mediapersons on January 12, Energy Minister D K Shivakumar said that the new circular will not be applicable for housing units having a built-up area of below 8,000 sq ft and building height of less than 50 ft, which means the rule is applicable only for high rises. BWSSB has already displayed the terms and conditions, which say that buildings that have fourth floor and more have to submit occupancy certificate. Plan sanction is a must for all the buildings to get water connection. 

BESCOM website still displays the old form where it asks the owners to produce either “Proof of Ownership of the premises or Proof of Occupancy”, which means BESCOM hasn’t yet officially announced that OC is mandatory. 

However, if the accusation of fake occupancy certificates turns out to be true, there may not be much coming out of the new rule that makes OC mandatory. Unless the government tightens the noose and puts a full stop to fake occupancy certificate, there is not much meaning to it. Here's the list of 97 buildings that have official Occupancy Certificates issued by BBMP between 2009 and 2014.

NO WATER AND ELECTRICITY FOR BUILDINGS WITHOUT OCCUPANCY CERTIFICATE IN KARNATAKA

THE GOVERNMENT OF KARNATAKA HAS ISSUED A NOTIFICATION TO THE BESCOM AND BWSSB NOT TO PROVIDE ELECTRICITY AND WATER SUPPLY TO THE BUILDINGS WITHOUT OCCUPANCY CERTIFICATE FROM THE APPROPRIATE PLANNING AUTHORITIES.  THIS  DIRECTIONS HAS BEEN ISSUED BY THE URBAN DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT IN ORDER TO STOP THE DEVIATION AND UNAUTHORISED CONSTRUCTIONS ACROSS THE STATE.

THE UNDER CONSTRUCTION ILLEGAL OR UNAUTHORISED BUILDINGS WILL FACE THE HEAT.

OCCUPANCY CERTIFICATE OR COMPLETION CERTIFICATE FOR APARTMENTS - What to do?

OCCUPANCY CERTIFICATE OR COMPLETION CERTIFICATE FOR APARTMENTS

The purchasers of flats and apartments are more concerned about A or B khata and most of them does NOT bother to verify whether the property purchased by them has a valid Completion certificate/Occupancy certificate issued by the appropriate authority and not by the scrupulous builder/developer.  The completion or occupancy certificates issued at Bangalore by the builder does not have legal sanctity at all, it is a useless and waste piece of paper. Most of the builders/developers are so cunning to such an extent, they obtain the occupancy certificate and thereafter commence or put up illegal structures and the apartment buyer does not even know about it. Hence, a thorough examination into all approvals and compliance of all the conditions laid down is for the benefit of the buyer and not for the Government or for the authorities. In simple terms, the absence of a valid Completion certificate / /Occupancy certificate, means that the building may not have been built as per approved plan, and the threat of demolition of unauthorised structure looms large. Further, if you want to sell or hypothecate the property after a lapse of say 10 years, you will not be able to do so, if you do not possess a  valid Completion certificate / /Occupancy certificate. In Bangalore alone, 50% of the apartments DOES NOT HAVE COMMENCEMENT CERTIFICATE NOR OCCUPANCY CERTIFICATE, BUT ALL THESE APARTMENTS HAVE BEEN ILLEGALLY FINANCED BY THE BANKS. In the event of an enquiry or suit or examination, the borrower is at serious trouble than the lender(banker). In such a case, the borrower is equally liable and responsible for misrepresentation of facts and for filing false or wrong affidavits stating that the building has been constructed as per the plan and the banks reserves the right to recall the loan with all damages and charges.   what about the property for which the builder has not given you a valid Completion certificate / /Occupancy certificate? What to do? Issue a notice to the builder to apply and hand over the above certificates within one month from the date of issue of your notice. If the builder does not respond, file a complaint in the consumer forum, and pray the forum to issue directions to the builder to apply and obtain the above certificates. You can also mention in the complaint that the Hon’ble Supreme Court has given a judgement in Faqir Chand Gulati vs Uppal Agencies Pvt. Ltd. & Anr on 10 July, 2008 that “Even if such a provision for providing completion certificate is not found in the agreement, the builder cannot escape the liability for securing the C.C. and providing a copy thereof to the owner. The law requires the builder to obtain completion certificate of such a building.” Some of the excerpts from the above judgement are as follows:- 1. "Builders violate with impunity the sanctioned building plans and indulge deviations much to the prejudice of the planned development of the city and at the peril of the occupants of the premises constructed or of the inhabitants of the city at large. Serious threat is posed to ecology and environment and, at the same time, the infrastructure consisting of water supply, sewerage and traffic movement facilities suffer unbearable burden and are often thrown out of gear. Unwary purchasers in search of roof over their heads and purchasing flats/apartments from builders, find themselves having fallen prey and become victims to the design of unscrupulous builders. The builder conveniently walks away having pocketed the money leaving behind the unfortunate occupants to face the music in the event of unauthorized constructions being detected or exposed and threatened with demolition. Though the local authorities have the staff consisting of engineers and inspectors whose duty is to keep a watch on building activities and to promptly stop the illegal constructions or deviations coming up, they often fail in discharging their duty. Either they don't act or do not act promptly or do connive at such activities apparently for illegitimate considerations. If such activities are to stop, some stringent actions are required to be taken by ruthlessly demolishing the illegal constructions and non-compoundable deviations. The unwary purchasers who shall be the sufferers must be adequately compensated by the builder. The arms of the law must stretch to catch hold of such unscrupulous builders. At the same time in order to secure vigilant performance of duties,responsibility should be fixed on the officials whose duty was to prevent unauthorized construction, but who failed in doing so either by negligence or connivance." 1.2. “ If the construction is part of a building which in law requires a completion certificate or C&D forms (relating to assessment), the builder is bound to provide the completion certificate or C&D forms. He is also bound to provide amenities and facilities like water, electricity and drainage in terms of the agreement. If the completion certificate and C&D forms are not being issued by the Corporation because the builder has made deviations/violations in construction, it is his duty to rectify those deviations or bring the deviations within permissible limits and secure a completion certificate and C&D forms from MCD. The builder can not say that he has constructed a ground floor and delivered it and therefore fulfilled his obligations. Nor can the builder contend that he is not bound to produce the completion certificate, but only bound to apply for completion certificate. He cannot say that he is not concerned whether the building is in accordance with the sanction plan or not, whether it fulfills the requirements of the municipal bye-laws or not, or whether there are violations or deviations. The builder cannot be permitted to avoid or escape the consequences of his illegal acts. The obligation on the part of the builder to secure a sanctioned plan and construct a building, carries with it an implied obligation to comply with the requirements of municipal and building laws and secure the mandatory permissions/certificates.” 3). “A prayer for completion certificate and C&D Forms cannot be brushed aside by stating that the builder has already applied for the completion certificate or C&D Forms. If it is not issued, the builder owes a duty to make necessary application and obtain it. If it is wrongly withheld, he may have to approach the appropriate court or other forum to secure it. If it is justifiably withheld or refused, necessarily the builder will have to do whatever that is required to be done to bring the building in consonance with the sanctioned plan so that the municipal authorities can inspect and issue the completion certificate and also assess the property to tax. If the builder fails to do so, he will be liable to compensate the complainant for all loss/damage. Therefore, the assumption of the State Commission and National Commission that the obligation of the builder was discharged when he merely applied for a completion certificate is incorrect