Offices in homes: PUDA nod to consultants

Permission will be given on payment of Rs 40,000 for plots up to 10-marla and Low Income Group (LIG) and Middle Income Group (MIG) category houses and Rs 5,000 to be charged on plots exceeding 10-marla and Higher Income Group (HIG) houses. Explaining the payment schedule, officials said: "No interest will be charged if the entire amount is paid within 60 days with 50 per cent fee paid within 30 days of grant of the permission”, PUDA officials said. Otherwise, 18 per cent interest will be charged for the second installment.

In case of default on the instalment, permission will be deemed to be withdrawn automatically. The prescribed fee has already been approved by the PUDA’s Finance and Contract Committee at its July 23, 1998 meeting. It is learnt that PUDA’s Planning and Design Committee, at its meeting held earlier, has decided to permit professional services which are non-polluting and cause no nuisance in residential areas.

PUDA Additional Chief Administrator Seema Jain told Newsline that permission to carrying on a consultancy may be withdrawn if the allotment condition is violated or area exceeds the prescribed limit. The new policy will be implemented initially at SAS Nagar and Ludhiana, she said and added: "Following its successful implementation, other urban estates of Punjab will be covered”.