CURE Bill Grants More Powers to Citizens on Building Permits
It introduces night economy zones, marking areas to promote economic activity, employment, tourism and vibrancy in urban areas.
Hyderabad:The Core Urban Region (Integrated Governance) Bill, 2026 (‘CURE Bill’) grants more authority to citizens on building permits, incorporates enhanced municipal services including grievance redressal, and focuses on improving the standard of living, especially of the urban poor. However, this comes with the price of enhanced property tax.
On building permits, if a decision is not taken by the officer concerned within the stipulated time prescribed for processing, the application will automatically be escalated to the next higher officer. If, even after escalation, no decision is communicated to the applicant or the senior officer does not process it, provisions relating to deemed approval will apply. The applicant may issue a notice to the Commissioner claiming deemed approval.
Presently, despite BuildNow — a Building and Layout Approval System with a fast scrutiny module — some files remain pending as officers fail to process them, leaving them in cold storage. Under the CURE Bill, such files will be sent to higher authorities for the next step of approval.
The Bill also establishes a Gender Inclusion Cell. One of its tasks is collecting data and conducting research to adopt an evidence‑based approach towards making CURE more inclusive and safer for women and transgender persons.
It introduces night economy zones, marking areas to promote economic activity, employment, tourism and vibrancy in urban areas.
Though several new components are part of the CURE Bill, common features with the GHMC Act, 1995 include the Standing Committee, functioning pattern of urban local bodies (ULBs), and ward committees. Key changes include increased property tax assessment, a Unique Property Identification Number (UPIN) for every property, and a simplified single trade licence for all businesses, alongside the new night‑economy framework.
Other components include real‑time multi‑agency monitoring and emergency coordination, a strict ban on manual scavenging, a unified digital portal for all municipal services, and separate cells for traffic management, environment protection, food safety and disaster response.
