Layout Regularisation Back On, March 31 Deadline for Paying Fee

Hyderabad: The state government on Monday decided to approve land layouts on open plots under the Layout Regularisation Scheme of October 2020 and gave applicants time till March 31 to pay the regularisation fees, in a move that brought relief to over 20 lakh applicants.

Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy took the decision during a review meeting on the day and directed officials to expedite the regularisation process “to benefit lakhs of lower and middle-class families” in the state.

The previous BRS government had called for applications from August 31 to October 31 of 2020, receiving 25.44 lakh applications in total from across panchayats (10.76 lakh applications), municipalities (10.54 lakh applications), and municipal corporations (4.13 lakh).

The state government earned nearly Rs 250 crore through application fees alone, with the regularisation fees set to bring in nearly Rs 3,000 crore.

Then, each applicant paid Rs 1,000 for small plots and Rs 10,000 for large plots, to get the regularisation done. However, soon after the collection of application fees, the government halted the process citing legal issues, leaving the applicants to sweat out the issue for the past four years.

Revanth Reddy took note of the issue, which was brought up by the stamps and registration department, in Monday’s review. Officials apprised the Chief Minister of the various court cases, saying that the Supreme Court had permitted the state government to proceed with regularisation applications, subject to final judgments on pending cases.

The officials said the courts have no objection to regularising eligible applicants, after which Revanth Reddy directed that the process be speeded up.

The Chief Minister directed officials to regularise the layouts as per the norms in place during the introduction of the scheme and give applicants time till March 31 to pay the fees in full. He also cautioned officials to only regularise layouts that were not in litigation or belonged to the endowments department, Wakf Board, and the government.

He said that applicants will get ownership rights on land through the registrations, paving the way for undertaking construction, seeking bank loans, or selling their land.