HYDERABAD: The state government is not in favour of taking the recently enhanced market value of lands into consideration while regularising illegal plots and layouts under LRS (layout regularisation scheme). Illegal plots and layouts will be regularised based on the market value prevailing when they were registered, according to official sources. This is to ensure that the LRS applications are not overburdened with revised market values.
Nearly 25 lakh LRS applications are pending with the state government for a year since August 2020 due to a pending case in the Supreme Court against LRS. The government earned over Rs 250 crore through application fee alone when applications were accepted from September 1 to October 31, 2020. Individual plot owners were asked to pay Rs 1,000 as application fees while layout developers Rs 10,000 each. The state government plans to clear LRS applications after SC delivers its verdict.
When the state government announced the LRS in August last, it evoked sharp criticism from Opposition parties and property owners, who questioned why they should be penalised now for plots that they had purchased several years ago and why the government permitted illegal layouts in the first place and why they were registered if they were illegal. Several petitions were filed in the High Court and the Supreme Court challenging the LRS.
Against this backdrop, the government is of the opinion that people who are already angry at LRS and pay fees as per old market value will be more agitated if they are asked to pay higher LRS fee as per enhanced market value of lands which came into force on June 22.
In case of open plots, the lowest market value earlier was Rs100 per square yard, which has now been revised to Rs 200 per square yard. The basic value of open plots has been revised by 50 per cent in the lower range, 40 per cent in the mid-range and 30 per cent in the higher range. However, these revised rates will not be considered, according to official sources.
Sources said officials of MA&UD and PR&RD took up the issue with Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao on June 20 seeking his direction on whether to collect LRS fees based on old or new market values.
The Chief Minister is learnt to have clearly told them that market values prevailing on the date of property registration document should be taken into consideration as new rates will burden people even more.
