Few takers: Fee to regularise illegal houses in Delhi slashed by 75%

A tepid response in the first five months of the Central government’s scheme to regularise properties and grant ownership rights to residents of 1,511 unauthorised colonies in Delhi has prompted authorities to cut regularisation charges by 75% and revert to an affidavit-based, third-party-verified mechanism, senior civic officials said on Monday

A tepid response in the first five months of the Central government’s scheme to regularise properties and grant ownership rights to residents of 1,511 unauthorised colonies in Delhi has prompted authorities to cut regularisation charges by 75% and revert to an affidavit-based, third-party-verified mechanism, senior civic officials said on Monday.

Around 37,000 people had previously availed themselves of benefits under the scheme. (Photo for representation)

The relief, the people cited above said, will be available for a limited period to encourage more property owners to join the scheme.

A senior Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) official said that while the scheme aims to grant ownership rights to residents of the 1,511 colonies with an estimated 1 million houses, the Delhi government has received only 107 applications so far — seven applications for regularisation of built-up areas on the MCD portal and another 100 submitted through empanelled architects under the simplified procedure. MCD portal shows that only two applications have been cleared so far.

“Despite the government repeatedly simplifying the process through amendments to encourage property owners in these colonies, public response has been quite tepid. Consequently, we have slashed the fees for granting ownership rights by up to 75% to attract more residents into the scheme,” the official said.

The fees comprise charges under the Unified Building Byelaws, including permit fees, betterment charges, additional levy, plinth fees, pre-occupancy charges and charges for construction without sanction. A second set of charges levied by MCD includes compensatory, construction and demolition (C&D), development and administrative/IT charges.

DDA has waived its share of charges, while MCD is reducing its charges by 75%. Labour cess will also not be levied on such properties, officials said.

Mayor Pravesh Wahi said MCD and DDA had jointly reduced their respective charges by 75% to encourage more beneficiaries. “Keeping in view the financial condition of the general public, the MCD has decided to provide major relief in regularisation charges, so that more and more people can get the constructed area of their property regularised,” he said.

MCD Standing Committee chairperson Satya Sharma said the rebate would be available to applicants who complete regularisation by October 31, 2026. If the government extends the deadline, the rebate would remain applicable during the extended period.

For instance, a 100sqm property with a carpet area of 300sqm in an “E Category” colony such as Chand Bagh in Shahdara would have attracted charges of ₹4,50,722 under the previous regime. This will now fall to ₹75,036. Penal FAR charges for additional floors will continue to apply.

The PM-UDAY scheme was launched in 2019, with responsibility for executing the process later transferred to MCD by the Centre following amendments to the rules. Around 37,000 people had previously availed themselves of benefits under the scheme. However, MCD has received only seven new applications, of which five were rejected for incomplete documentation.

On April 7, Union housing and urban affairs minister Manohar Lal announced that properties in these colonies could be regularised without approved layout plans. A senior MCD official said many buildings in the colonies are five to seven storeys high.

“Most buildings have a FAR of 500–600 against the permitted 300–350. Applicants will have to pay three times the additional FAR charges for the number of floors above the permitted FAR,” the official said.

The process also requires architect certification and a structural safety certificate. “If there are multiple owners in the building, it becomes even tougher for all of them to come together and ownership is also joint. It is very difficult to bring people together,” the official said.

The Union government has said the colonies will be regularised on an “as is where is” basis, with land use deemed residential except for small convenience shops. Officials, however, have raised concerns over building safety and large-scale commercial activity. A similar approach was followed for unauthorised colonies regularised in the past. “When 567 colonies were regularised in the 1990s, it was expected that owners would correct deviations and pay penalties, but that did not happen. This may see a similar outcome,” the official said.