Onlykashmir.in News Desk
The Jammu and Kashmir Government has notified a uniform building permission fee structure for all Urban Local Bodies and Development Authorities across the Union Territory with immediate effect, in a move aimed at bringing greater uniformity, transparency and predictability to the building permission process.
The order, issued by the Housing and Urban Development Department under the Jammu and Kashmir Unified Building Bye Laws, 2021, supersedes all previous notifications and instructions issued separately by Municipal Corporations, Municipal Councils, Municipal Committees and Development Authorities that had until now prescribed differing building permission fees across different jurisdictions, often creating confusion for applicants.
Under the new fee schedule, residential buildings, including housing colonies, will attract a building permission fee of ₹80 per square metre, while commercial, public, semi public, industrial and other special category buildings will be charged ₹270 per square metre. The fee for mixed use buildings has been fixed at ₹130 per square metre, providing a clear and standard rate card for applicants regardless of which local body they fall under.
The government has also prescribed a lump sum malba security of ₹3,000 for residential buildings and ₹10,000 for all other categories, intended to cover the cost of debris clearance associated with construction activity. In addition, a compounding fee equivalent to 40 per cent of the applicable building permission fee for the respective land use will be levied wherever applicable, covering cases of unauthorised or deviated construction that is later regularised. Religious buildings have been exempted from payment of the building permission fee altogether.
The order further directs that the uniform fee structure be integrated into the Online Building Permission System and Auto-DCR platform and made applicable uniformly across the Union Territory, effectively digitising and standardising what has often been a fragmented process. It also bars any Urban Local Body or Development Authority from revising or altering the notified fee without prior approval of the Housing and Urban Development Department, closing off the scope for local variation that had previously led to inconsistent charges for similar construction across different districts.
The Government has directed all Municipal Corporations, Municipal Councils, Municipal Committees and Development Authorities to implement the new fee structure and ensure strict compliance within their respective jurisdictions, with officials expected to monitor adherence in the weeks ahead.
