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.

Wing Cdr Pooja Thakur leading the Guard of Honour for US President -

Wing Commander Pooja Thakur leading the inter-services Guard of Honour for US President Barack Obama at Rashtrapati Bhavan.

Wing Cdr Pooja Thakur, who has served in the IAF for 13 and a half years, is an administration officer and is posted at its publicity cell, DISHA, at the Delhi Air Headquarters in New Delhi. She is a para jumper, and hails from Rajasthan

GOVERNMENT LANDS RECOVERED AT BANGALORE

BBMP CALLS UPON THE OWNERS OF THE APARTMENTS/FLATS TO PAY BETTERMENT CHARGES

Betterment charges –

Flat owners must pay betterment charges - BBMP

The BBMP Commissioner has issued a circular making owners of individual flats liable for any due in betterment charges, and has absolved builders of liability if they have sold all the flats.

BBMP Commissioner M Lakshminarayan in the circular has said: “In certain cases, owners of properties have paid improvement charges in part. They have submitted an undertaking that they will pay the improvement charges as prescribed by the BBMP at the time of khatha registration. But on verification, in most of the cases, the improvement charges are still due.”

He further goes onto to say: “It is learnt that the owner of such properties are developers, who have constructed buildings, whether it is commercial, residential or apartments; and have sold the individual properties to the public. In such cases, the purchasers of such properties are liable to pay the improvement charges.”

Amendments made in the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013

The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, has approved certain amendments in the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013. The Act came into effect from 01.01.2014 but it has been reported that many difficulties are being faced in its implementation.  In order to remove them, certain amendments have been made in the Act to further strengthen the provisions to protect the interests of the ‘affected families’.  In addition, procedural difficulties in the acquisition of lands required for important national projects required to be mitigated. States, Ministries and stakeholders had been reporting many difficulties in the implementation of this Act.  Several suggestions came up in interactions with State Revenue Ministers and key implementing Ministries. Proposed amendments meet the twin objectives offarmer welfare; along with expeditiously meeting the strategic and developmental needs of the country.  Pro-farmer step: Excluded Acts brought under RFCTLARR Act for Compensation and R&R The existing Act vide Section 105 (read with Schedule IV) has kept 13 most frequently used Acts for Land Acquisition for the Central Government Projects out of the purview. These acts are applicable for national highways, metro rail, atomic energy projects, electricity related other projects etc. Thus a large percentage of famers and affected families were denied  the compensation and R&R measures prescribed under the Act. The present amendments bring all those exempted 13 Acts under the purview of this Act for the purpose of compensation as well as rehabilitation and resettlement. Therefore, the amendment benefits the farmers and the affected families. Pro-development: Faster processing without compromising on compensation or R&R measures to farmers The second important aspect of the amendment is to make developmental and security related works much faster without compromising on the benefits/compensation to be given to the farmers. In the process of prolonged procedure for land acquisition, neither the farmer is able to get benefit nor is the project completed in time for the benefit of society at large. Therefore the present changes allow a fast track process for defence and defence production, rural infrastructure including electrification, housing for poor including affordable housing, industrial corridors and infrastructure projects including projects taken up under Public Private Partnership mode where ownership of the land continues to be vested with the government. These projects are essential for bringing in better economic opportunities for the people living in these areas and would also help in improving quality of life.

ANEKAL PLANNING AUTHORITY - A WARNING ON DC CONVERTED SITES - PURCHASE

CHOOSING AN AGENT/BROKER TO FACILITATE THE PURCHASE OF THE PROPERTY

BUYERS OF PROPERTIES IN AND AROUND BANGALORE UTILISE THE SERVICES OF ONLINE PORTALS, IN WHICH AGENTS/BROKERS ADVERTISE THEIR PROPERTIES WHICH ARE OFFERED FOR SALE AND IT IS STRONGLY ADVISED TO CHECK THE BACKGROUND AND ASSOCIATES OF THE AGENTS AND BROKERS AS MOST OF THEM HAVE CRIMINAL BACKGROUND AND NOW A DAYS EVEN WITH TERROR LINK.

IN THE EVENT OF CANCELLATION OR WITHDRAWAL OR REJECTION OF A PROPERTY BY THE POTENTIAL BUYER, THE AGENTS/BROKERS WILL PLAY ALL TYPES OF TANTRUMS AND EVEN THREATEN THE BUYERS, LEAVE ALONE THE TOKEN ADVANCE PAID OR DREAMING OF RECOVERING THE ADVANCE AMOUNT, PUT THE BUYER IN TROUBLE.

IT IS ADVISED TO TAKE UTMOST CARE AND DILIGENCE WHILE SELECTING AN AGENT/BROKER TO LOCATE/FIND OUT AND DEAL WITH THE SELLER OF THE PROPERTY.

DO NOT FELL PREY FOR THEIR SWEET TALK AND THEIR POSH OFFICES.

FIND OUT THEIR DETAILS LIKE FULL NAME, HOW LONG THEY HAVE BEEN DOING BUSINESS, CRIMINAL CASES, KNOWLEDGE ABOUT THE PROPERTY LAW AND COMPLIANCE, OFFICE, ACCOMPLICES AND THEIR CLIENTS.

DO NOT PROVIDE MUCH DETAILS ABOUT THE BUYERS TO THESE AGENTS, THAT MIGHT BE USED TO CREATE PROBLEMS ON A LATER DATE.

ILLEGAL AND UNAUTHORISED STRUCTURE DEMOLISHED AT BANGALORE

DEMOLITION OF UNAUTHORISED STRUCTURE AT BANGALORE

The High Court of Karnataka has STAYED the demolition of a building, alleged to have violated the sanctioned building plan on the basis of a plaint by the land lord stating that she had not been given an opportunity to be heard etc.,

Justice Ram Mohan Reddy of Karnataka High Court directed the BBMP to demolish the unauthorised portions of the building at Richmond Road and report to him by evening and this order was stayed by 4.30 p.m by the Chief Justice.

The building had come under High Court's scanner on Monday when Justice Ram Mohan Reddy slammed the civic agency for dilly-dallying on the demolition despite a BBMP engineer ordering the demolition a few months ago.

The court was hearing a case filed by members of neighbouring Rustumji Residency Owners Association against the BBMP east zone joint commissioner for neglecting a building bye-laws violation.

Though the BBMP sought time to carry out the demolition, the court refused and directed the officials to carry it out and report to it by 10:30 am on Wednesday.

Members of Rustumji Residency Owners Association were glad for the action being taken but said that it should have been taken up much earlier. "I still don't believe that officials are implementing the court's order. This they should have done this in August itself when their own assistant engineer had issued the demolition order. This could have saved more than Rs 2 crore which was spent by the builder to take up the construction work," he said. A real estate expert said there was a lesson to be learnt for anyone constructing individual house or an apartment block. "If the construction is taken up violating BBMP building bye-laws then it is liable to face demolition," he said.

MORE ILLEGAL AND UNAUTHORISED STRUCTURES TO GO

Mobile Banking Transactions in India - Operative Guidelines for Banks –RESERVE BANK OF INDIA

RBI/2014-15/337 DPSS.CO.PD.No.1017/02.23.001/2014-2015 December 04, 2014 The Chairman and Managing Director / Chief Executive Officers All Scheduled Commercial Banks including RRBs / Urban Co-operative Banks / State Co-operative Banks / District Central Co-operative Banks Madam /Dear Sir Mobile Banking Transactions in India - Operative Guidelines for Banks A reference is invited to our Master Circular RBI/ 2014-15/104 DPSS.CO.PD. Mobile Banking.No.2/02.23.001/2014-15 dated July 1, 2014 wherein consolidated guidelines related to mobile banking were issued by the Reserve Bank of India. 2. It may be recalled that the RBI had set up a “Technical Committee on Mobile Banking” (Chairman Shri B.Sambamurthy) to study the challenges faced by the banks in providing mobile banking to customers in general (customer enrolment and technical issues) and also to examine the options/alternatives for expanding the reach of mobile banking in the country. In order to take these recommendations forward, the RBI had organized a conference to discuss the issues / challenges faced by banks and lay down a concrete roadmap for enhancing mobile banking services in India. Subsequently, an informal group was also formed with representation from various stakeholders for “Setting standards for on-boarding mobile banking customers by banks’, which has made some critical observations and also offered certain suggestions for enhancing the efforts of banks and stakeholders in widening the access to mobile banking service. 3. As banks have started offering mobile banking services at different points of time, there are differences in procedures adopted by banks for registering customers for mobile banking as well as in the channels of delivery and authentication process. Generally, banks are offering mobile banking services through the SMS, Application-based solutions and USSD channels. Lack of awareness as well as standardization of procedures at banks also adds to the problems which have led to a situation of slow pick-up of mobile banking services despite the high mobile density in the country. This is of particular importance when customers are using inter-operable mobile banking platforms. 4. Thus, there is a need for greater degree of standardization in procedures relating to on-boarding of customers for mobile banking (new customers, existing account holders whose mobile numbers are available with the bank but not registered for mobile banking, and existing account holders where mobile number is not available with the bank), as also the subsequent processes for authentication, including accessible options for generation of MPIN by customers. 5. Banks should strive to provide options for easy registration for mobile banking services to their customers, through multiple channels, thus minimizing the need for the customer to visit the branch for such services. The time taken between registration of customers for mobile banking services and activation of the service should also be minimal. 6. A few suggestions and best practices that can be adopted by banks for registering / on-boarding customers for mobile banking, under the three scenarios indicated above, are given in the Annex. 7. Similarly, in order to quicken the process of MPIN generation and also widen the accessibility of this process to their mobile banking registered customers, banks can consider adopting various channels / methods such as a.     Through the ATM channels (similar to option available for change of PIN on their own ATMs as well as in inter-operable ATM networks) b.    Through an option provided in the USSD menu for mobile banking (both their own USSD platform, if any, as well as under the inter-operable USSD Platform for mobile banking) c.     Banks’ own internet banking website, with necessary safeguards d.    Use of MPIN mailers (like PIN mailers for cards) e.     Common website can also be designed as an industry initiative 8. Banks are also advised to undertake customer education and awareness programme in multiple languages through different channels of communication to popularise their process of mobile banking registration/activation and its usage etc. 9. This directive is issued under Section 10(2) read with Section 18 of Payment and Settlement Systems Act 2007 (Act 51 of 2007). 10. Please acknowledge receipt. Yours faithfully (Vijay Chugh) Principal Chief General Manager Annex Suggestions / best practices for increasing the penetration (customer registration / on-boarding) of Mobile Banking 1. New Customer: at account opening time a.     Account opening form should clearly indicate the option for mobile banking – the option for mobile banking services should be clear and distinct from the contact details of the customer where mobile number is also accepted; it should also be clearly indicated that alerts (if sent through SMS) will be sent to this registered mobile number. b.    Customer should be made aware of the mobile banking facilities while opening the account. Further, the form should also clearly indicate that opting for mobile banking services will provide an alternate delivery channel to the customer; related inputs / materials / booklet etc. should be provided to the interested customers outlining the features of mobile banking services offered by the bank, the process involved, roles and responsibilities etc. 2. Existing Customer- Mobile numbers registered with the bank but not active for mobile banking: As mobile number registration has already taken place and available with the bank (is linked with the account), wider and more accessible platforms should also be made use of by the banks to increase awareness on mobile banking at every opportunity to get more and more customers to register for mobile banking services. Some of the methods that can be adopted by banks for having targeted customer awareness programs could include:        i.            sending SMS / e-mails to their customers on registered mobile numbers / e-mail ids about activating mobile banking, providing necessary URLs / customer care numbers from which the customer can obtain additional information on mobile banking activation process;     ii.            ATMs and self-service Kiosks at branches can also alert the customers to activate the mobile banking options;  iii.            social media can also be used by the banks to build awareness and encourage customers to register on mobile banking;  iv.            through the internet banking website of the bank especially when the customer logs in for net banking operations (taking into account the security architecture and authentication mechanism already prevalent in the bank/s);     v.            banks can use their IVR and phone banking channels to encourage and facilitate registration and activation of customers for mobile banking;  vi.            banks can also harness the potential of inter-operable channels such as the NFS (which is widely used by customers for transacting with their cards) to provide a widely accessible channel for mobile banking registration; 3. Existing Customer- Mobile number not registered with the bank at all Banks need to find ways of obtaining mobile numbers of the account holders first for registration in their database and subsequently for mobile banking registration. Some of the options that can be used for this purpose are: a.     Through ATM channel – an alert / message can be given (at the ATM itself) by banks when the customer transacts at the ATM, that she/he has not registered any mobile number with the bank b.    Branch visit- at teller level, when the customer comes to the teller for any cash deposit / withdrawal transaction, the customer profile should indicate that he/she has not registered the mobile number at the bank and should be asked to do so immediately c.     Similarly, at passbook printing counters / kiosks too, the customer profile should be verified for existence of mobile number and customer should be advised to register the mobile number when he/she uses the passbook printing kiosk d.    At BC level with biometric authentication.

Introduction of Digital Life Certificates for Pensioners

Introduction of Digital Life Certificates for Pensioners

RBI/2014-15/343 DGBA.GAD.H- 2529/45.01.001/2014-15 December 9, 2014 The Chairman/Chief Executive Officer All agency banks Dear Sir Introduction of Digital Life Certificates for Pensioners As per the present scheme for payment of government pension, pensioners are required to furnish a life certificate in November every year to the bank concerned for continued receipt of pension without interruption. Even though this requirement has been liberalised to enable pensioners to submit their life certificate at any branch of the pension disbursing bank, several pensioners find it difficult to submit the certificates in time for various reasons. 2. In order to alleviate the hardship caused to pensioners, the Government of India has since launched “Jeevan Pramaan”, a digital life certificate based on Aadhaar Biometric Authentication, aimed at further simplifying the process of submission of life certificate and facilitating accuracy and timeliness in disbursal of pensions. In order to facilitate implementation of Jeevan Pramaan, a web portal (jeevanpramaan.gov.in) was launched by the Hon’ble Prime Minister on November 10, 2014. Copy of a brochure on Jeevan Pramaan brought out by the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology of the Government of India, explaining the details of the scheme and its benefits, is enclosed for your information. 3. To facilitate introduction of Jeevan Pramaan, the Central Pension Accounting Office, Ministry of Finance, Government of India (CPAO) has amended the Scheme of Payment of Pensions to Central Government Civil Pensioners. A copy of the relative Office Memorandum dated November 14, 2014, issued by the CPAO, enclosing Correction Slip no. 22 dated November 10, 2014, and the process for getting digital life certificates by the pensioners, is attached. Copies of the memorandum has already been sent by CPAO to all banks and to the governments of all States and Union Territories. Similar amendments to their respective pension regulations have also been made by different Central Government Ministries (e.g., Ministry of Railways and Department of Posts). The Indian Banks Association has also issued a circular dated November 22, 2014, in this regard to their member banks. 4. Once fully implemented, agency bank branches will be able to obtain information about the digital life certificate of their pensioner customers by logging on to the website of Jeevan Pramaan and searching for the certificate or by downloading through their Core Banking Systems. Pensioners will also be able to forward to their bank branches the relative link to their digital life certificate by email/sms. 5. All agency banks disbursing government pension may take necessary action to implement and benefit from the scheme and issue necessary instructions to all their branches concerned and dealing staff. Banks may, in addition, work towards creating awareness about this facility among their pensioner customers through their branches, websites and other means. Banks may also suitably amend the FAQs on pension payments posted on their websites, and provide a link to the website of Jeevan Pramaan. Yours faithfully (G. Sreekumar) Chief General Manager

TOP BUILDERS WITH FRAUD - FORGERY - BOGUS CC AND OC IN BANGALORE

A CBI ENQUIRY IS DEMANDED IN THIS SCAM - MANY TOP BUILDERS OF BANGALORE WILL BE IN THE CENTRAL JAIL SOON