Maha to form committee to resolve OC woes of Mumbai buildings

Mumbai: State urban development minister Eknath Shinde on Tuesday announced that the department would set up a committee to formulate a policy to address issues of the buildings in Mumbai that have partial occupancy certificates. Shinde said that the government is also mulling an amnesty scheme for buildings that do not have occupancy certificates.

Shinde made the announcements in the Legislative Assembly after the issue was raised by legislators Sunil Prabhu, Ashish Shelar, Yogesh Sagar and Amin Patel. They highlighted that citizens were bearing the brunt of these issues despite paying to the developers.

OC is issued by the civic body once all terms and conditions laid down by the civic body are complied with by the builder. OC certificate means that the building is fit to be occupied by the residents.

Owners of flats in the building which do not have the OC have to pay more in terms of certain charges by the local bodies.

According to civic officials, about 50,000 housing societies in Mumbai and Mumbai metropolitan region do not have final OC.

“We will make a positive decision within a month by setting up a committee to find a solution to these issues,” Shinde said.

The minister further said that the property tax is to be paid by the developer till the completion of construction of any building. “However, after the construction of the building, the developers often obtain partial occupancy certificate first. The municipal administration levies water and sewerage charges from the occupants of such buildings. But without OC, the residents are charged double water and sewerage tax and also have to pay property tax at an increased rate. Citizens living in these houses have to bear the brunt of hardships,” Shinde added.

Raising the issue, Shelar said that the middle-class in Mumbai is troubled when it comes to housing. “Many developers finish projects and obtain partial occupancy certificates. The developer, also at times, gets an occupancy certificate for a few floors while selling out the units on the other floors without an appropriate certificate. The middle class get misled and spend entire earnings on these properties. Justice should be provided to such occupants in Mumbai,” said Shelar.

Shinde also announced that the government would consider an amnesty scheme for the buildings that have not received OCs or have not met certain criteria and are deprived of OCs. “The number of such buildings in a metropolis like Mumbai is huge. Our department is positive about providing relief to them by launching an amnesty scheme through the Mumbai Municipal Corporation soon,” he added.